U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul said Sunday that Omar Mateen showed "some disturbing flags" before killing 49 people in an Orlando, Florida, nightclub on June 12, the worst mass shooting in modern American history.
>> The latest coverage of the Orlando nightclub shooting
The Austin, Texas, Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said the House will examine the two FBI investigations into Mateen’s terrorist connections in which, McCaul said, the investigators didn’t find “predication to detain or arrest him at that time.”
“We do know he was on the radar several times, saying he had affiliations with al-Qaeda, terrorist organizations. We know he was close — or attended the same mosque — with a suicide bomber in Syria out of Florida. There were some disturbing flags going up in this case that we’re going to take a close look at,” McCaul said. “Then he mentioned that he looked at Anwar Al Awlaki videos in the second investigation which I think should have flagged to the FBI.”
The shooting has renewed the debate over how the FBI investigates terrorist suspects who are American citizens. McCaul, as the head of the House’s national security panel, will play a key role.
>> Click here to watch an interview with McCaul
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