The FBI has released the 911 call transcripts from the June 12 shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, but Paul Ryan isn’t satisfied.
Immediately following the tragedy it was widely reported that the shooter had called 911 and pledged his allegiance to ISIS, but the FBI has chosen to redact those portions of the conversations, as well as the shooter’s name. “My name is I pledge allegiance to [omitted],” the transcript, obtained by NBC News, reads.
The shooter called the Orlando Police Department’s Crisis Negotiation Team three times, adding up to nearly 30 minutes worth of conversation. He reportedly told them that he was doing this because America is bombing Syria and Iraq, and warned the police not to do “anything stupid,” otherwise he would set off a vehicle filled with bombs.
“Part of the redacting is meant to not give credence to individuals who have done terrorist acts in the past,” FBI assistant special agent in charge Ron Hopper told NBC. “We’re not going to propagate their rhetoric, their violent rhetoric, and we see no value in putting those individuals’ names back other there. We’re trying to prevent future acts from happening again and for cowards like this one, people like that influence them.”
Hopper added that the shooter held a “perverted view” of Islam. There’s “no evidence” that he was in direct contact with ISIS, but rather he appeared to have been radicalized domestically. His parents moved to the U.S. in the 1980s before he was born.
Paul Ryan has been quite outspoken about the FBI’s decision to alter the transcript, saying it’s “preposterous” and calling for the original unredacted version to be released. He issued the following statement:
Selectively editing this transcript is preposterous. We know the shooter was a radical Islamist extremist inspired by ISIS. We also know he intentionally targeted the LGBT community. The administration should release the full, unredacted transcript so the public is clear-eyed about who did this, and why.
