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U.S. Offers to Help Florida With Overtime Costs From Massacre
(about 1 hour later)
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch visited the grieving city of Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday, nine days after the massacre at a gay nightclub, and promised emergency financial aid and other support for law enforcement agencies and victims’ families, even as another federal agency denied a request for assistance, prompting an angry response from Florida’s governor.
ORLANDO, Fla. — After denying the state of Florida’s petition for $5 million in emergency funding to cover costs associated with the massacre at a popular gay nightclub, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it would offer $1 million to help pay for police overtime.
Ms. Lynch visited people wounded in the attack by Omar Mateen at Pulse nightclub and family members of victims, and met with local law enforcement officials and federal prosecutors and investigators. “I am so inspired by the strength and the resilience of the survivors and their loved ones,” she said at a news conference.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch visited Orlando on Tuesday, nine days after Omar Mateen, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, opened fire at the Pulse nightclub. Ms. Lynch met with some of the wounded and relatives of the 49 people killed in the attack, as well as with top law enforcement officials in the region.
She offered few responses to the many questions that remain about the case, like whether Mr. Mateen’s wife might face charges, how many shots were fired at the nightclub, and the politically charged matter of whether the F.B.I., which investigated Mr. Mateen in 2013 and again in 2014, should have taken action against him. All of the issues remain under investigation, Ms. Lynch said, but she indicated that at least some answers would be coming.
Ms. Lynch said the Department of Justice would make $1 million available to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement so local jurisdictions could cover the overtime costs associated with the killings.
Though the F.B.I. has defended its actions, the department is looking into its history with Mr. Mateen “to determine what if anything we could have done better,” she said. When asked if any of the 49 people killed and 53 wounded were mistakenly shot by the police in a gun battle with Mr. Mateen, she said, “It will be part of the information made available to you,” but did not say when.
“We will move quickly to make the award as soon as possible,” she said, adding that the administration was also providing counseling resources for traumatized officers and medics.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday denied a request from Gov. Rick Scott for $5 million in federal assistance related to the shooting. In a letter to Mr. Scott, the agency administrator, W. Craig Fugate, wrote that the request failed to explain how the incident was beyond the capability of the state and local governments, and did not demonstrate how the money could help protect lives and property.
“It is unthinkable that President Obama does not define this as an emergency,” Mr. Scott, a Republican, said in a statement. “We are committing every state resource possible to help the victims and the community heal, and we expect the same from the federal government.” The governor’s office said it would appeal the decision.
A FEMA spokesman, Rafael Lemaitre, said that when mass shootings occurred in Connecticut, California and Virginia, the states did not request emergency funding, in part because the dangers had ended fairly quickly. “It is extremely uncommon to make a specific request like this for an event that is not ongoing,” he wrote in an email.
Ms. Lynch said she could not comment on FEMA’s action, but noted that substantial help was on the way from the Department of Justice. The department is making $1 million available to local law enforcement agencies to cover increased expenses like overtime pay, and offering emergency counseling to emergency medical workers who, she said, “carry that weight long after the smoke has cleared.”
“We are also making federal emergency funds and victim compensation funding available to cover, for example, family travel expense, medical, mental health expenses and other costs related to this tragedy,” she added.
“We are also making federal emergency funds and victim compensation funding available to cover, for example, family travel expense, medical, mental health expenses and other costs related to this tragedy,” she added.
President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. visited the city last week. The attorney general’s trip comes as Orlando moves slowly toward a vague sense of normalcy, with businesses near Pulse being allowed to open for the first time since the assault. A temporary fence that was erected around the nightclub has been removed, according to news reports.
Her announcement came after Gov. Rick Scott criticized the administration for declining his application for $5 million of Department of Homeland Security emergency funding.
The dispute over emergency aid came on the heels of another example of the administration’s being second-guessed for its response to the slaughter here.
In a letter on Monday, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, W. Craig Fugate, told the governor that the request, made the day after the shooting, had been denied because the appeal did not explain how the incident was beyond the capability of the state and local governments. The request also did not demonstrate how federal funds could help protect lives and property, the letter said.
On Monday, the Justice Department released a partial transcript of Mr. Mateen’s call to a 911 operator while the siege at Pulse was underway, removing the names of the Islamic State and its leader, to whom Mr. Mateen declared his allegiance. Officials said they made the redactions to avoid promoting the group’s propaganda, but the decision was widely criticized, including by the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan. Within hours, the department released the full transcript of the call.
“An emergency declaration is not appropriate for this incident,” Mr. Fugate wrote in the letter, which was released by the governor’s office.
But the department has not released transcripts of two other conversations the gunman had with the police, and just fragments of another. Nor has it made public audio recordings of the calls, which Ms. Lynch said might happen at some point.
Records show that FEMA has approved the vast majority of emergency funding requests made after hurricanes and other disasters, but that no state has applied in the wake of a mass shooting.
None of the material released points to Mr. Mateen’s being motivated by hatred of gays, though that is a part of the investigation. Ms. Lynch said it was an act of terrorism and a hate crime. As for conflicting reports about whether the gunman had been a patron of gay clubs, she said, “I’m not able to give you a conclusive answer.”
Mr. Scott called the denial “incredibly disappointing” and said the state would appeal.
“I know that the L.G.B.T. community in particular has been shaken by this attack,” she said. “It is indeed a cruel irony that a community that is defined almost exclusively by whom they love is so often a target of hate.”
“It is unthinkable that President Obama does not define this as an emergency,” Mr. Scott, a Republican, said in a statement. “We are committing every state resource possible to help the victims and the community heal, and we expect the same from the federal government.”
Sheriff Jerry L. Demings of Orange County said he learned about the $1 million at the news conference when Ms. Lynch announced it. His department was still trying to determine how much had been spent, he said.
“One million dollars?” he said. “You know what? It’s a start.”
Sheriff Demings confirmed that Mr. Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, had visited the nightclub several hours before the 2 a.m. shooting spree. He appeared to have stepped outside for some period of time and returned just before firing on the patrons, he said.
He declined to give any more details. Ms. Lynch also declined to provide any new information on the case.
She said the agency would reveal more information later, including results of firearms testing to determine whether any victims had been killed by police bullets. She also said she would eventually release the audio tape of Mr. Mateen’s 911 call.
The administration was criticized Monday for releasing a partial transcript of just one of his calls, which deleted references Mr. Mateen made to the Islamic State and its leader. A few hours later, the Department of Justice released another version without the redactions.
Ms. Lynch’s visit to Orlando came as the downtown area surrounding the Pulse nightclub began returning to normalcy.
“There is no doubt that this was a shattering attack,” Ms. Lynch said. “But the message of Orlando goes far beyond one night of unspeakable terror. The message of Orlando that I have seen today — and what the American people have seen in the wake of this horrific assault — is a message of determination to remove hatred and intolerance from our midst.”
