Attorney General Loretta Lynch, after her first visit with families who lost loved ones in the Orlando nightclub shooting, called the violence a “shattering attack on our nation, on our people and on our most fundamental ideals.”
Ms. Lynch traveled Tuesday to Orlando to meet with victims and first responders to the June 12 attack and announced that the Justice Department would make $1 million in emergency funding available to Florida law enforcement to help pay for overtime incurred by police departments that responded.
Ms. Lynch’s visit to Orlando comes nine days after gunman Omar Mateen stormed Pulse nightclub in a hail of gunfire, fatally shooting 49 people and injuring 53 others. The gunman was killed in a shootout with police after they breached the nightclub to rescue remaining hostages.
As investigators still work to sort through Mateen’s motivation for the attack on the gay nightclub, including his pledges of allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State during the attack, Ms. Lynch reiterated the Justice Department’s support for both local law enforcement and the gay community that was targeted in the attack.
“I know that the LGBT community in particular has been shaken by this attack. It is indeed a cruel irony that a community defined almost exclusively by whom they love is so often a target of hate,” Ms. Lynch said. “Let me say to our LGBT friends and family, particularly to anyone who might view this tragedy as an indication that their identities — their essential selves — might somehow be better left unexpressed or in the shadows: This Department of Justice and your country stands with you in the light.”
The Justice Department’s decision to provide $1 million in aid to local law enforcement in Orlando comes as another federal agency turned down a different request for aid.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday informed Florida Gov. Rick Scott that a request to declare an emergency for the state in the wake of the shooting had been denied. A formal declaration of emergency would have made $5 million in federal funding available.
“It is incredibly disappointing that the Obama Administration denied our request for an Emergency Declaration,” Mr. Scott, a Republican, wrote on Twitter. “It is unthinkable that [the president] does not define the Orlando terror attack, the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, as an emergency.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Scott said Tuesday that the governor plans to appeal the decision.
A FEMA official said such a request was uncommon and that governors of other states where similar mass shootings had taken place — such as in Newtown, Connecticut, and San Bernardino, California — had not requested emergency funds.
“The only instance in which this administration has received a terrorist-related request for a federal state of emergency was the Boston Marathon bombing, which was an ongoing incident at the time of the request,” said Rafael Lemaitre, director of public affairs for FEMA. “It is extremely uncommon to make a specific request like this for an event that is not ongoing.”
FEMA also has made $253,000 in unspent Homeland Security Grant Program funds available for use by Florida law enforcement to pay for operational overtime expenses related to their response to the June 12 shooting.
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The Justice Department funds, which the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would be able to apply for on behalf of Orlando and other affected jurisdictions, would cover overtime costs for state and local first responders, Ms. Lynch said.
“We will move quickly to make the award as soon as possible,” she said.
During her visit, Ms. Lynch declined to provide additional details about the investigation into whether others who knew Mateen, including his wife, may have had knowledge of his plans to carry out the attack.
“We’re not going to speak about anyone else’s role in this right now,” she said.
On Monday, investigators released a summary and partial transcript of phone conversations Mateen had with 911 operators and crisis negotiators during the three hours he was holed up inside the nightclub with hostages. The accounts provide a more detailed timeline of events of the early-morning ordeal, during which Mateen said he was an “Islamic soldier” and armed with additional explosive devices that he threatened to detonate.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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