The perpetrator of the Orlando attack was monitored for ten months by the FBI

Washington, June 13 (EFEUSA).- As reported today by FBI Director James Comey, Omar Mateen was monitored for 10 months for radicalism and was interviewed in a subsequent investigation, but no reasons were found to continue the investigations or prohibit him from purchasing of weapons.

Comey stated in a meeting with journalists in Washington that

With the information available now, I don't think we should change the way we do things.

The FBI chief acknowledged that the FBI's background check system for gun purchases does not limit someone with an already closed investigation for radicalism.

The system is organized so that if an investigation is closed, no notifications are presented when a gun is purchased (and a background check is performed)

added the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Mateen, an Afghan-American who purchased his weapons legally earlier this month, was investigated and closely monitored between May 2013 and March 2014 by the FBI after making comments at work about ties to Al Qaeda and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, opposing groups.

The investigation was closed due to lack of sufficient evidence of terrorist danger.

Comey assured that there are "strong indications that the perpetrator of the deaths was radicalized on the Internet" and, for the moment, there is no evidence of

that was directed from outside the United States or was part of any organization.

However, the FBI chief noted that the investigation now focuses on analyzing his communications and electronic devices and on "knowing who knew what or if someone assisted him."

The attacker, who began the massacre at the Pulse nightclub, frequented by homosexuals, in the early hours of Saturday to Sunday, maintained contact with the 911 emergency number on three occasions, on one of which he showed his loyalty to Abu Bakr al Bagdadi, leader of the Islamic State (IS).

In one of the calls, Mateen also mentioned Moner Mohammed Abu Salha, a Florida resident who blew himself up in May 2014 in a suicide attack in Syria on behalf of Jabat al Nsra (a group linked to Al Qaeda, but opposed to ISIS). ).

In July 2014, the FBI interviewed the suspect after the death of Abu Salha, since both frequented the same mosque and one of the attendees expressed concern about the level of radicalism of Mateen, 29 years old.

The FBI also tried to clarify the reasons for a trip that Mateen made to Saudi Arabia, but the Saudi secret services did not provide them with any significant information.

Despite the alarms that Mateen's story presents in recent years, once again the FBI and the US security and anti-terrorist services have let someone escape who seems to fit the definition of a "lone wolf" radicalized on the internet.

Comey presented a young man who was radicalized, probably on his own, and spoke of Islamist groups with conflicting agendas, such as Jabat al-Nsra, IS or Hezbollah, opposed to the previous two (Sunni groups). And he concluded:

We will look back to determine what we could have done better and to see what we can improve.

(Image taken from independent)