It is undeniable that we live in a turbulent era. We are seeing the world rapidly change around us, and we are scared. With this high amount of fear by our citizens in this country, people are turning towards dangerous people. These are individuals who, if elected, can destroy a nation with one single click of a switch. A day like Sunday did not help to quell our fears, but rather fueled them to a point of no return.
If you have been out of the loop for the past couple of days, here is what happened in Orlando:
On late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, a man walked into an LGBT club in Orlando and fired away at hundreds of people who were partying. The latest numbers confirmed that 50 people have died along with 53 individuals who were injured. This makes the attack the largest mass shooting in American history. The shooter was Omar Mateen, a man who was born in America, and who, from numerous reports, was mentally unstable. He studied Islamic State (Isis) philosophies, and pledged allegiance to them in a 911 phone call to the police during the shooting. The Islamic State has yet to claim responsibility for the attack, and it is most likely that he is a lone wolf inspired by the rhetoric of the Islamic State. What triggered him was a scene a couple of weeks ago that his father recalled: he saw two gay men kissing, and was deeply perturbed. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufi also claimed Mateen to be a very abusive husband, physically hurting her, along with forcing her to be completely disconnected from her family. The FBI also investigated Mateen twice for terror related, but found the evidence to be inconclusive.
I am angry that a man like this, who was clearly unstable and a threat to society, was able to have access to an AR-15, a high capacity assault rifle. Guns like these should be held by those who have undertaken immense training, gun safety classes and background checks. If these were in place for Mateen, it would have been much harder for him to pull off the attacks.
Secondly, the National Rifle Association has only claimed in these situations that a bad guy with a gun can be stopped by a good guy who holds a firearm. He held off security, tons of policeman, FBI and the SWAT team due to the weapon that he was possessing. The good guys with guns could barely hold off a guy with a weapon he should have never possessed. If he went to the club with simply a handgun, he could have been stopped.
A lot of angry individuals are blaming this attack on Islam, and thus getting behind the "Donald Trump Muslim ban." Don’t become one of them. Most people in the religion are peaceful and loving individuals. We must instead place our focus on beating the Islamic State on educating the people in the region of the contradictions and dangers of radical Islam, and how it does not represent their religion.
If we continue our hatred of Islam, it will only lead to more fire power for the Islamic State and other terrorist groups in the Middle East. Also, this should be considered a hate crime against the LGBT community. It is obvious that this man had a hatred of homosexuals, and went to that nightclub to seek vengeance. As a country, we need to continue to push for more LGBT rights - not scapegoat them like we have done to so many minorities in the past.
Finally, what we need to do now is pray for the victims and their families, and hope for those injured to recover fully and get back on their feet. My thoughts and prayers are with the city and people of Orlando following this horrific tragedy.
