Following the Obama administration’s attempt to censor from a 9-1-1 call transcript Orlando terrorist shooter Omar Mateen’s pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State, industrious U.S. law enforcement officials are now investigating the role Mateen’s reported use of steroids may have played in the massacre.
Citing two U.S. law enforcement officials, The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday an autopsy found Mateen was likely a long-term user of steroids.
The paper further reported the FBI is unsure if the alleged steroid use helped to fuel Mateen and played a role in his rampage. As if there is precident for Islamic terrorist attacks being fueled by steroids.
The newspaper reported:
The revelation comes as FBI agents continue to scour the background of Omar Mateen for clues as to why he launched his June 12 rampage at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history…
Federal investigators are not sure if steroids played a role in the shooting. A medical examiner found evidence of physical changes to Mateen’s body that were consistent with long-term steroid use, the officials said, and is seeking to confirm that assessment through further testing.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports on its website that using high doses of steroids, which help build body mass and muscle, “increase irritability and aggression. Some steroid abusers report that they have committed aggressive acts, such as physical fighting or armed robbery, theft, vandalism, or burglary.”
The search for Mateen’s motivations may have missed Mateen’s phone calls to police in which he outright stated his motivations, including one call to a police operator and three subsequent phone calls to police crisis negotiators responding to the assault.
A partial transcript of Mateen’s initial 9-1-1 call includes his allegiance pledge to IS. “I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may Allah protect him [said in Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State,” he stated.
An FBI summary of the subsequent calls states that Maten referred to himself as an Islamic soldier angry about U.S. operations in Iraq and Syria.
Here is the relevant portion of the summary:
In these calls, the shooter, who identified himself as an Islamic soldier, told the crisis negotiator that he was the person who pledged his allegiance to [omitted], and told the negotiator to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq and that is why he was “out here right now.”
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.