10 things you need to know today: June 14, 2016
Witnesses say Omar Mateen frequented gay club before attack, Trump and Clinton have opposing reactions to shooting, and more
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- 1. Shooter reportedly frequented Orlando gay club before attack
- 2. Trump and Clinton clash in their reactions to Orlando tragedy
- 3. Democrats renew call for banning gun sales to people on terror lists
- 4. Investigators look into Orlando shooter's Disney visit and possible motives
- 5. Supreme Court rejects Puerto Rico's debt-restructuring law
- 6. Severed head found in Philippines could belong to Canadian hostage
- 7. Trump bans The Washington Post from campaign events
- 8. France calls killing of two police officials 'a terrorist act'
- 9. Tourist who reported rape convicted on sex charge in Qatar, then released
- 10. Cavaliers stay alive with Game 5 win over Warriors in NBA Finals
1. Shooter reportedly frequented Orlando gay club before attack
Regulars at Pulse nightclub say Omar Mateen, the man who killed 49 people inside the gay club early Sunday morning, visited the club numerous times before the attack. One man said Mateen often drank quietly in a corner. Another regular said he had exchanged messages with Mateen on a gay dating app. A former police academy classmate said Mateen once asked him out, and he believed Mateen was gay but not open about it. A former fellow security guard offered a conflicting picture, describing Mateen as angry, violent, and "a bigot" who often made homophobic and racist remarks.
Orlando Sentinel Los Angeles Times
2. Trump and Clinton clash in their reactions to Orlando tragedy
Donald Trump on Monday called for a temporary ban against Muslims entering the U.S. from "areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism" in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting. The Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, was born in the U.S., but the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he was only here because his family was allowed to enter from Afghanistan. Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said the proper response to the shooting is to reinstate a ban on the type of assault-style rifle Mateen used to kill 49 people and wound 53.
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3. Democrats renew call for banning gun sales to people on terror lists
Democrats on Monday called on congressional Republicans to respond to the Orlando mass shooting by taking up legislation to ban the sale of guns and explosives to people who have been placed on terrorism watch lists or are suspected of ties to terrorist groups. Omar Mateen, the apparent Islamic State supporter police say killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub, had been investigated for possible terror ties but was able to legally purchase an assault-style rifle. Six months ago, Republicans blocked so-called terror gap legislation in the wake of the San Bernardino massacre.
4. Investigators look into Orlando shooter's Disney visit and possible motives
Omar Mateen, the man identified by authorities as the shooter in the nation's deadliest mass shooting ever, scouted targets at Walt Disney World before attacking a gay nightclub in Orlando, according to two officials briefed on the investigation. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said Mateen, who expressed allegiance to the Islamic State before being killed by police, had expressed sympathy for rival Islamist extremist groups, creating "confusion about his motives." President Obama said Mateen appeared to be a homegrown extremist.
The Wall Street Journal Reuters
5. Supreme Court rejects Puerto Rico's debt-restructuring law
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Puerto Rico's 2014 debt-restructuring law conflicts with federal bankruptcy laws. The 5-2 decision means the U.S. Caribbean island is unable to use its law to cut billions of dollars in public utility debt over the objections of creditors, closing off its best chance to avoid default without Congress' help. The ruling came shortly after Congress this month passed legislation calling for a federal control board to oversee the handling of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt load, which it says it can't pay.
6. Severed head found in Philippines could belong to Canadian hostage
Police in the Philippines are examining a severed head found in a plastic bag on a street in Sulu province to determine whether it belonged to a Canadian hostage. The hostage, Robert Hall, was abducted from a marina in September — along with fellow Canadian John Ridsdel and two others — by Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist extremist group. Ridsdel was beheaded in April after a ransom deadline passed. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was "horrified" by the apparent killings but reiterated that "Canada will not and cannot pay ransoms for hostages to terrorist groups."
7. Trump bans The Washington Post from campaign events
Donald Trump said Monday that he was "revoking" press access to his campaign events for The Washington Post. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said on Facebook that the Post was "phony and dishonest." The move apparently came in response to a Monday headline in the newspaper saying that Trump had linked President Obama to the Orlando mass shooting. Post executive editor Martin Baron called the ban "nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press," and said the paper would continue covering Trump "unflinchingly."
8. France calls killing of two police officials 'a terrorist act'
A man convicted in 2013 on terrorism charges fatally stabbed two French police officials in what French President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday was "a terrorist act." French officials identified the assailant as 25-year-old Larossi Abbala, who was sentenced to three years in prison in 2013 on charges tied to recruiting jihadis in Pakistan. The attacker fatally stabbed the police officer outside the officer's home in the Parisian suburb of Magnanville, then took his female partner, also a police official, hostage and killed her before antiterror police stormed the apartment.
9. Tourist who reported rape convicted on sex charge in Qatar, then released
Officials in Qatar on Monday released a 22-year-old Dutch tourist who had told police she was drugged and raped only to be arrested on charges of having sex out of wedlock. A court on Monday convicted the woman, gave her a one-year suspended sentence, and fined her $845. She had been jailed since March, and now must leave the country. "We are very happy she's going to be home soon," her lawyer, Brian Lokollo, said. The Syrian man she said raped her was sentenced 100 lashes for a sex charge and 40 lashes for public drunkenness.
10. Cavaliers stay alive with Game 5 win over Warriors in NBA Finals
The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors 112-97 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night, staying alive in the best-of-seven and forcing a sixth game. Cavaliers stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving scored 41 points each to lead their team. The Warriors still lead the series 3-2. Monday's loss was just the Warriors' fourth this year on their home court, Oracle Arena. They will have another shot at winning their second straight championship in Game 6 in Cleveland on Thursday.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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