The transcript of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen's 50-second phone call to an Orlando 911 operator was released in full by the FBI Monday, but only after the U.S. Justice Department was pressured into making public a version that was not edited to remove specific references to ISIS.
As expected, the redactions were references to the terror group ISIS and its leader.
Here is the full version:
"2:35 a.m.: Shooter contacted a 911 operator from inside Pulse. The call lasted approximately 50 seconds, the details of which are set out below:
(OD) Orlando Police Dispatcher
(OM) Omar Mateen
OD: Emergency 911, this is being recorded.
OM: In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficent [Arabic]
OD: What?
OM: Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God [Arabic]. I wanna let you know, I'm in Orlando and I did the shootings.
OD: What's your name?
OM: My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State.
OD: Ok, What's your name?
OM: I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State.
OD: Alright, where are you at?
OM: In Orlando.
OD: Where in Orlando?
[End of call.]"
House Speaker Paul Ryan attacked the decision to edit the transcript and called on the Obama administration to release the full document.
"The selective editing of the Orlando shooter's 911 call transcript is preposterous," Ryan's message said.
RT if you agree → The Obama admin should release the full, unredacted transcript of the #Orlando shooter's 911 call. pic.twitter.com/DAebXksTb7
-- Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) June 20, 2016
Mateen described himself the emergency dispatcher as an "Islamic soldier" and pledged allegiance to a terror group, but the FBI redacted the group's name from the transcript. Previous reports have said the group was ISIS -- the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
There was no references to homosexuals in the call.
"Those killings are on the suspect and the suspect alone" @ChiefJohnMina pic.twitter.com/6TNTqZoH6b
-- Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 20, 2016
Mateen called 911 on his cell phone twice in the first minutes of his attack, but he hung up. The emergency dispatcher then called him back.
Mateen, 29, armed used a semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm handgun murder 49 people and seriously wounded another 53 inside Pulse, a gay Orlando nightclub, in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12. Orlando police shot and killed him after nearly three hours of negotiations as he held hostages.
Decision to breach the building was difficult, but it was right thing to do and many people were saved pic.twitter.com/WgUzrAHRXm
-- Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 20, 2016
The FBI and local police held a news conference Monday to discuss the transcript release.
Timeline con't. 2:08 a: officers make entry to #Pulse, engage shooter; 2:18 a: OPD SWAT call out initiated. pic.twitter.com/xM4foQgBar
-- Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 20, 2016
Mateen spoke in a "chilling, calm and deliberate manner," FBI Special Agent in Charge Hopper told reporters. The actual recordings will not be released because while the audio is "compelling, to expose that now would be excruciatingly painful."
Anti-Obama websites questioned why the FBI redacted the transcript to remove Mateen's reported pledge of allegiance to the ISIS terror group. They are suggesting the Obama administration is trying to downplay the connection to radical Islam while emphasizing any connection to anti-gay hatred as a motive for the massacre.
"What we're not going to do is further proclaim this man's pledges of allegiance to terrorist groups and further his propaganda," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said ion NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.
