The massacre perpetrated by Omar Mateen at a gay club in Orlando, Fla., which left 50 dead and 53 wounded, means Islamic attacks have now killed twice as many Americans as right-wing terror groups since Sept. 11, 2001.
Data from New America’s International Security Program shows that since 9/11, far-right-wing attacks have killed a total of 48 people, while violent jihadi attacks have resulted in the deaths of 45 people.
That latter figure completely changed as of early Sunday morning, when Mateen launched a devastating attack on Pulse nightclub.
Given the extent of the injuries, authorities expect that number to climb.
The updated figure means that since 9/11, violent jihadi attacks have killed at least 95 people, which is now nearly double the number committed by far-right-wing groups or individuals. The data lists the San Bernardino shooting and the attack in Chattanooga, Tenn., as the two most recent violent jihadi attacks. In the San Bernardino case, terrorists killed 14. In the Chattanooga case, the gunman killed five.
On the other side, the project counts the attack on the Planned Parenthood in Colorado as an instance of right-wing violence, where three individuals were killed. It also counts the Charleston Church shooting by Dylann Roof, where nine church-goers were gunned down.
This data does not even take into account the difference between absolute and relative numbers, which is remarkable, given that Muslims constitute an incredible small percentage of the overall population in the United States.
While full confirmation of Mateen’s links to Islamic terror have not been issued yet, the FBI has stated that evidence suggests Mateen does have links to Islamic extremism.
FBI Special Agent Ron Hopper said in a press conference, “We do have suggestions that that individual may have leanings towards that, that particular ideology [Islamic extremism]. But right now we can’t say definitively, so we’re still running everything around.”
Additionally, a senior law enforcement source told The Daily Beast that the FBI had already looked into Mateen’s connections in the past to Islamic extremism, once in 2013 and once in 2014.
Mateen has also bragged about “having ties to terrorist organizations.”
Still, Mateen’s father is insisting that religion had nothing to do with the attack, also adding in the same breath that a possible motive may have been Mateen’s absolute outrage at two men kissing.
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