Mass killing in Orlando gay nightclub

[Martinus]

An interesting tidbit from a local newspaper:

Gilroy, a former Fort Pierce police officer, said Mateen frequently made homophobic and racial comments. Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim.

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/crime/2016/06/12/who-omar-mateen/85791280/

"If you see something, say something" has always been the mantra of non-intrusive social policing that keeps everybody safe at a basic level - but when those who do (even if sometimes they report false flags, like the guy on the Ryanair plane) are derided as ignorant bigots, the system collapses.

[Valmy]

Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim.

I think he may be assuming something there. Generally you don't fire people just because of a few racist/homophobic comments.

[Martinus]

Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim.

I think he may be assuming something there. Generally you don't fire people just because of a few racist/homophobic comments.

Read the article. He was talking about killing people too.

[garbon]

Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim.

I think he may be assuming something there.

Yes, how exactly does Gilroy know?

[garbon]

"If you see something, say something" has always been the mantra of non-intrusive social policing that keeps everybody safe at a basic level - but when those who do (even if sometimes they report false flags, like the guy on the Ryanair plane) are derided as ignorant bigots, the system collapses.

I thought the analysis from NYC was that having that policy on public transport had actually done little apart from wasting time and money.

[Martinus]

Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim.

I think he may be assuming something there.

Yes, how exactly does Gilroy know?

Why don't you ask him?

[garbon]

Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim.

I think he may be assuming something there.

Yes, how exactly does Gilroy know?

Why don't you ask him?

I don't have his contact details nor do I really care enough.

[Martinus]

Fair enough. Why do you ask here then, if you don't really care?

[garbon]

Fair enough. Why do you ask here then, if you don't really care?

It was rhetorical. A reasonable person can assume it is unlikely he was told by decision makers that his colleague wasn't fired because he was muslim.

[garbon]

Here's what I was referring to.

http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/mta-anti-terrorism-2012-10/

The MTA's "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign is one of those fixtures of post-9/11 life in New York. (And beyond: The MTA, which trademarked the catchphrase, has licensed it to 54 different agencies around the world.) The message is a reminder that the threat of another terror attack is real, but it also provides some comfort: Average New Yorkers, by watching each other's backs, can do something to stop one. But what if "See Something, Say Something" actually compromises subway safety? That's the argument made by Harvey Molotch, an NYU sociologist with an interest in urban design, in his new book, Against Security. His case against the program breaks down into four central points.

1. It hasn't helped to catch any terrorists.
A 2008 MTA public-service announcement stated that nearly 2,000 New Yorkers had "seen something and said something" that year, but the only public data on the initiative's efficacy comes from a Times article from the same year, which reported that in 2006 and 2007 calls to the campaign's tip line led to just eighteen arrests for offenses such as selling fake I.D.'s, owning unregistered guns, and immigration violations. None of the reported busts was terrorism-related. "There have been no people stopped from doing an act of terror, there have been no people charged with terror through the informants that have come forward," says Molotch. The street vendor who helped to stop the Times Square bombing in 2010 did so by reporting the smoking SUV to a mounted patrol officer—the danger was unambiguous, and taking action did not re­quire remembering a phone number. (It's 1-888-nyc-safe, for the record.)

2. There's just too much weird stuff going on in New York City.
"We have everything," says ­Molotch. "People lugging their art project around with wires sticking out, people who indeed look Islamic operating counting machines to count their prayers in Islam as they go." Reports of such harmless goings-on can clog the law-enforcement system and keep officials from investigating serious threats. Molotch interviewed 80 subway workers for his book and concluded that "See Something" would be an even bigger nuisance if MTA staffers didn't often opt to check out suspicious packages themselves rather than call in investigators. "If they really acted on each of these things, the subway system would come to a halt."

3. It creates a "Chicken Little" effect.
Encouraging New Yorkers to call in leads that are likely to amount to nothing can cause subway workers to ignore credible threats—too much bogus information makes them dubious. "When people don't tell the truth about security, when they give false impressions, it's a real danger to believing in the system when in fact it does tell the truth," says Molotch. "The people who work in the subway regard most of these measures as jokes having no bearing on their actual practices."

4. The signs themselves are a safety hazard.
Those "See Something" placards plastered on station agents' glass booths? They actually make it harder for the agent, a trained professional, to see anything.

An MTA spokesman insists the program is successful, and a valuable part of keeping the city safe. And for all his qualms, Molotch does acknowledge one unintended benefit of the program: New Yorkers now have a better chance of getting back a gym bag or package accidentally left behind when getting off at their stop. "It seems to be," he says, "that there is actual retrieval of lost goods."

[Valmy]

Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim.

I think he may be assuming something there. Generally you don't fire people just because of a few racist/homophobic comments.

Read the article. He was talking about killing people too.

I read it. It sounds like he was great with the residents which was probably the reason he got to keep his job despite that weird shit with that co-worker.

Gilroy, a former Fort Pierce police officer, said Mateen frequently made homophobic and racial comments. Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim. Gilroy quit after he said Mateen began stalking him via multiple text messages — 20 or 30 a day. He also sent Gilroy 13 to 15 phone messages a day, he said.

I mean WTF man?

[derspiess]

This dude's dad is a trip.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen-father-seddique-mateen-taliban-god-punish-gays/

In his Facebook videos, the alleged gunman's father has often appeared wearing a military uniform and declaring himself the leader of a "transitional revolutionary government" of Afghanistan. He claims to have his own intelligence agency and close ties to the U.S. Congress -- assets he says he will use to subvert Pakistani influence and take control of Afghanistan.

[Valmy]

Weird. His son was quoting Jinnah on his facebook page. Obviously he and his father had their disagreements.

Wait how can his dad say stuff like this and also be pro-Taleban?

[Martinus]

Fair enough. Why do you ask here then, if you don't really care?

It was rhetorical. A reasonable person can assume it is unlikely he was told by decision makers that his colleague wasn't fired because he was muslim.

I don't know it is unlikely, especially off the record. I can see how he could be reporting this and he could get a feedback with a wink and "you know how Muslims are about gays".

[viper37]

MASS shootings.

it's silly to split "mass shootings" from gun related homicides, especially when you have multiple definitions of what constitutes a mass shooting.  Is a man killing his entire family a mass shooting or is it only when someone shoots a gun in a public space?

In any case:

United States

It has been reported that more mass shootings occur in the United States than in other countries. Although the frequency of mass shootings varies upon their definition, it has been reported that 31% of public mass shootings occur in the U.S despite the U.S. having only 5% of the world's population.[10][16] CNN reports that "there are more public mass shootings in the United States than in any other country in the world, according to a new study."[10]

The frequency in which mass shootings occur varies upon definition. Mother Jones which ran a series of articles on mass shootings stated that as of 4 December 2015, there have been four mass shootings in that year. In contrast, in "Behind the Bloodshed", a report by USA Today, has stated that mass killings occur every two weeks and that public mass killings only account for 1 in 6 of all mass killings.[11][

Might be less victims, but certainly more attacks of the type.  And recently, they tend to overlap, and they will keep overlapping in the future, since it's so easy to get a gun and shoot people.