The FBI has released the full unredacted transcript of Omar Mateen’s 911 call made during the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting in an effort to be more transparent following criticism of the decision to remove references to ISIS and the Islamic State’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, from the document.
In the 911 call, Mateen pledges allegiance to al-Baghdadi. There is no evidence that Mateen had any direct contact with ISIS and its leadership, but he is believed to have been radicalized domestically, the FBI says.
“The purpose of releasing the partial transcript of the shooter’s interaction with 911 operators was to provide transparency, while remaining sensitive to the interests of the surviving victims, their families, and the integrity of the ongoing investigation,” the FBI and Justice Department said in a joint statement. “We also did not want to provide the killer or terrorist organizations with a publicity platform for hateful propaganda. Unfortunately, the unreleased portions of the transcript that named the terrorist organizations and leaders have caused an unnecessary distraction from the hard work that the FBI and our law enforcement partners have been doing to investigate this heinous crime.
“As much of this information had been previously reported, we have re-issued the complete transcript to include these references in order to provide the highest level of transparency possible under the circumstances,” the statement said.
Transcripts of three additional calls made to police negotiators have also not been made public. Audio is also not being released at this time, the FBI says.
Mateen’s first call was made at 2:35 a.m. to a 911 operator while he was inside Pulse. The call lasted about 50 seconds, the FBI says.
The tag [said in Arabic] means the previous statement was said in Arabic, the FBI says.
You can read the uncensored transcript of Mateen’s first 911 call below:
Orlando Police Dispatcher: Emergency 911, this is being recorded.
Omar Mateen: In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficent [said in Arabic]
OD: What?
OM: Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God [said in 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.