Did Seddique Mateen Visit the White House or State Department?

FATHER OF MURDERER SHOWS DISTINCT POLITICAL LEANINGS

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jun. 15, 2016) — On Twitter on Wednesday, a tweeted link led to an article at downstreampolitics.com titled “Orlando Killer’s Father Held Meetings At The White House” in which a photo purported to show Seddique Mateen, father of the man who brutally murdered 49 at an Orlando nightclub early Sunday morning, standing at a podium bearing the official seal of the President of the United States.

The downstreampolitics.com article begins:

Seddique Mateen, father of the Orlando killer and outspoken supporter of the Taliban, has also been a guest at Obama’s White House and Hillary’s State Department.  I wonder what they were talking about?  The senior Mateen has described Omar as a “good son.”  Of course he also describes the Taliban as a good government so that should give you a frame of reference for what he considers good.

Seddique’s son Omar is the 29-year-old nightclub killer who was killed by a SWAT team after a three-hour encounter in the early hours of Sunday.  The Mateen family was originally from Afghanistan.  Since the attack and the ensuing discussions as to how to stop Islamic terror attacks in the U.S., many reporters have pointed out that Omar was a U.S. citizen as a result of his birth in New York in 1986.

In response to questioning from Bill O’Reilly, at 8:15 p.m. EDT, Fox News’s Catherine Herridge reported that Seddique Mateen arrived in the U.S. from Afghanistan during the “mid-1980s” but could not confirm that he was classified as a “refugee” because “privacy laws” do not allow the release of personal information from the State Department.

The downstreampolitics article later reports that the photo depicts “Mateen standing behind the President’s podium in the mock White House Briefing Room” but claims that he has “been a guest at Obama’s White House and Hillary’s State Department.”

Since his son’s rampage, Seddique Mateen produced a video in which he stated that he was shocked and saddened by his son’s violent actions. He added that “millions” have come from other countries to enjoy “a good life” in the United States.  “I condemn what he did,” Mateen said of his son’s assault on the Pulse nightclub, which took the lives of primarily people in their 20s and 30s.

A report by an unnamed elementary school teacher on Tuesday stated that Omar had shown violent tendencies then.  “The whole staff was concerned about him. I can honestly say of all my students there were 2 that I knew they were going to grow up to hurt someone. The ground work was done with the family. We did not get support from his father,” the teacher was quoted as having told foxchattanooga.com.

The New York Daily News elaborated further by stating that Omar’s “former teacher Kathleen Zurich said Mateen insulted other kids, stole their toys, acted out — and still managed to get a free pass from his enabling father.”

According to The New York Times, after brutally murdering the victims, Omar “talked by phone to law enforcement officials about further carnage, claimed allegiance to the Islamic State and praised the Boston Marathon bombers,” referencing two brothers, one of whom was killed in a shootout with police days later, who detonated pressure-cooker bombs which killed three and injured more than 260 in April 2013.

As of Tuesday, 33 of the 53 wounded from the shooting remained in Orlando hospitals.  A federal grand jury has been convened to study evidence as to whether or not anyone should be charged in the slayings.  According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Mateen’s wife has told the FBI that she accompanied her 29-year-old husband when he purchased ammunition and warned him not to commit the shooting” and “She has also told investigators that she drove him to the site of the massacre, Pulse nightclub, at least once before.”

According to newswest9, as of Wednesday morning, six victims remain in critical condition, while four are in guarded condition.

Seddique’s Facebook page contains postings primarily in Arabic which are not well-translated.  A purported photo of Mateen standing outside of a door with a sign, “Department of State” is also featured on his Facebook page.

From other photos, Mateen appears to be immersed in the politics of Afghanistan, and many of his photos contain the Afghani flag.  Comments left in response to some of the photos appear to support the parody that Mateen is the “self-declared interim President of Afghanistan.”

On Monday, Seddique provided a 13-minute interview to NBC2.

On Wednesday afternoon, after reading the downstreampolitics article, The Post & Email contacted the White House Media Affairs by email to as to whether or not the downstreampolitics.com article could be verified.  We wrote:

From: Sharon Rondeau [mailto:editor@thepostemail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 2:57 PM
To: FN-WHO-Media_Affairs <Media_Affairs@who.eop.gov>
Subject: MEDIA INQUIRY

Would you be able to confirm or deny this report?

>http://downstreampolitics.com/2016/06/15/orlando-killers-father-held-meetings-white-house/<

Thank you very much.

Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
>www.thepostemail.com<

We later received the following response:

Sharon,

I received your e-mail and I wanted to reply that this does not appear to be a photo taken at the White House.

Thanks,

Carl

—————————————–
Carl Woog
NSC/Press
cwoog@nsc.eop.gov

We then sent an email to a media contact at the U.S. State Department:

I may have the wrong department, but could you direct me to someone who could verify whether or not Seddique Mateen has been a guest at the U.S. State Department as depicted on his Facebook page?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1011564185587780&set=ecnf.100002026243192&type=3&theater

Thank you very much.

Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com

The Post & Email is awaiting a response as of press time.