Calls between Omar Mateen, who gunned down 49 people at Pulse
nightclub in June, and 911 dispatchers and a police negotiator were
released by the city of Orlando after a judge ordered them be made
public. The judge has yet to determine if 232 other recordings between
911 and people at the club that night will also be released. File photo
by Gary I Rothstein/UPI
| License Photo
Recordings of
calls between police and the Orlando nightclub shooter, Omar Mateen,
were released Monday night after a court ordered the city to make them
public.
Judge Margaret Schreiber
ordered the city of Orlando to release the recordings
of Mateen's calls to 911 dispatchers and conversations with police
negotiators during his siege on Pulse nightclub on June 12, which
resulted in the death of 49 clubgoers and the shooter.
The judge opted to hold off on releasing 232
other recordings of 911 calls from people in the club the night of the
attack in order to determine if their release will affect an active
criminal investigation or they depict the killing of a person. Either of
the classifications would allow the city to avoid the release of a
recording.
Although the city published transcripts of Mateen's calls last month, city officials resisted releasing the actual recordings.
"The legal battle has been proceeding for some
time and there was a lot of back and forth, but we're now down to the
last remaining issues with respect to whether these calls will be
released," said Rachel Fugate, the lawyer representing more than 25 news
organizations that sued the city to force the release of the
recordings.
The city released four recordings
of Mateen, including his initial 911 call, which starts with his
declaration, "I want to let you know, I'm in Orlando and I did the
shooting."
The other three recordings are conversations
between Mateen and a negotiator identified as Andy, who initially
expresses doubt Mateen is actually at the club but nonetheless takes the
man seriously. Meanwhile law enforcement rushed to his home and pinged
his cell phone to determine whether he was really at the nightclub.
During one of the conversations, Mateen
demands the United States "stop U.S. airstrikes" in Iraq and Syria. He
also refuses to tell Andy where he is located in Pulse, whether he had
explosives or accomplices and what it would take to convince him to
surrender.
"It's none of your business," Mateen tells
Andy as to whether he has an accomplice and, after hanging up on Andy
repeatedly -- who continues to try to establish contact with the
terrorist -- tells him "you're annoying me with these phone calls and I
really don't appreciate it."
While the recordings offer an understanding of
Mateen's attitude and demeanor, Fugate said the other calls from people
at the club may reveal a lot more about the timeline of events during
the attack, whether police were in contact with those inside Pulse and
how law enforcement handled the situation.
Calls that do not either depict the killing of
a person or have a potential effect on ongoing investigations would
likely be released, Fugate said.
During a two-hour hearing, family members
alternately asked the judge to release the recordings so they can hear
the last words of their family members while others said they, and the
rest of society, do not need to hear any of them.
Schreiber said she could not make a blanket
determination on all of them without listening to all 232 recordings --
which she said she planned to do before making a decision.
"I told the judge I don't need to hear those
calls because it's in my mind every day," Wilhemina Justice whose son
was killed in the attack,
told WESH-TV. "No one needs to hear our children beg for their life."
"This is a pain that never goes away," Justice
said. "I don't need a timeline. I understand that's part of the job,
but I don't need a timeline."
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