As the nation reels from the shock of the shooting in Orlando, the Monday morning quarterbacking has begun. Southern California Congressman Adam Schiff is asking why people who have been under investigation by the FBI for possible terrorist links shouldn’t be kept on a list, whereby the agency would be notified if they purchase a gun. This should include anyone on the “No-Fly” list kept by the government’s Terrorist Screening Center.
The FBI had taken a very close look at Orando shooter Omar Mateen for ten months. But he investigation had been closed.
“When somebody like this, that is the subject of an FBI counter terrorism investigation goes to buy a weapon, at least there’s a red flag that goes off in the FBI office when the background check is done so the FBI may want to take another look at this guy because now he’s armed.”
Schiff says Mateen fit the profile of the children of immigrants who have trouble figuring out how to find their place in U.S. society.
“We have seen this pattern before, often with the second generation that don’t feel fully American and don’t feel fully, in this case, Afghan. This was the New York-born son of two Afghan immigrants and who appears to have been radicalized largely online, kept his plotting largely to himself, at least we haven’t discovered yet that he was telling anyone else about this particular plot.”
Schiff says the FBI may conclude that it had done its due diligence and there was not enough evidence to justify detaining Mateen again.
Schiff was a guest on 790 KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning with Doug McIntyre and Terri-Rae Elmer.
By Sandy Wells
KABC News
