Attorney General Loretta Lynch told gay, bisexual and transgender people in Florida on Tuesday that the federal government supports them after the attack at a gay nightclub, not only in spirit, but with federal funds.
“Let me say to our LGBT friends and family, particularly to anyone who might view this tragedy as an indication that their identities, their essential selves, might somehow be better left unexpressed or in the shadows: this Department of Justice, and your country, stands with you in the light,” Lynch said in prepared remarks given to press Tuesday afternoon. “We stand with you today as we grieve together.”
Lynch was in Orlando Tuesday meeting with victims, their families and first responders involved in the June 12 attack. Her remarks were delivered after meeting with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Orlando.
As part of its response, the Justice Department will provide Florida $1 million in emergency funds to help cover the costs of dealing with the tragedy, Lynch said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will distribute the money, which will be available to help victims and family members with counseling, travel funds and medical and mental health expenses.
An original request for $5 million in FEMA emergency funding by Gov. Rick Scott was denied early Tuesday.
Lynch also said that anyone who had contact with the shooter, Omar Mateen, on the night leading up to the attack should contact investigators.
The investigation into Mateen is still ongoing, and Lynch said she did not know how long it will last or if anyone will even be charged. She declined to comment further on the investigation.
Mateen, the 29-year-old who was killed in a shootout with police after holding hostages at Pulse nightclub for three hours, called himself an Islamic State soldier in calls made to 911 during the rampage.
He also pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, in a 911 call made roughly 30 minutes after the original shooting started. The FBI released transcripts of the calls and a timeline of the night on Monday.
The FBI said it does not believe Mateen had any direct contact with a foreign terror organization, but was instead domestically radicalized. He was interviewed by the FBI three times during two separate investigations in recent years, but the investigation found him not to be a threat.
