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Democratic Senator: Orlando Attack Was Very Likely ‘Anti-Hispanic’

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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During a Democratic-led filibuster Wednesday, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson claimed that the terrorist attack in Orlando was “very likely anti-Hispanic” because most of the victims had “Hispanic surnames.”

“My home is in Orlando. I was there right after the shooting,” Nelson said. “As I suspected at the time that this was going to be a combination of ISIS inspired, you know a hate crime, anti-gay and very likely anti-Hispanic because 44 of the 49 had Hispanic surnames.”

According to a survivor of the Orlando terror attack, the shooter Omar Mateen spared black clubgoers. “Are you guys black?” the survivor said Mateen asked as he made his way through Pulse nightclub. 

“I don’t have a problem with black people,” Mateen reportedly said. “This is about my country. You guys suffered enough.”

Mateen was born in America to Afghan immigrant parents.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott also described the shooting as “an attack on our Hispanic community” during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Orange County, Fla, where the shooting occurred, is nearly 30 percent Hispanic. In the U.S as a whole, about 17 percent Hispanic.