In address to nation, president says no effort will be spared to determine whether shooter was affiliated with terror group
US President Barack Obama said the nightclub shooting in Orlando, in which 50 people were killed in the worst mass shooting in US history, was an “act of terror” and an “act of hate.”
“We grieve the brutal murder, this horrific massacre of dozens of innocent people,” said Obama. “We know enough to say this was an act of terror and hate. We are united in grief and outrage.”
Obama said the FBI was investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism and that no effort will be spared to determine whether the shooter was affiliated with terrorist groups.
Obama spoke at the White House after 50 people were killed overnight at a nightclub in Florida. Officials have said 53 more are hospitalized.
Noting that the attack targeted the LGBTQ community, Obama said this was a “sobering reminder” that an attack on any American is an attack “on all of us.”
“No act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us American,” he said.
Sounding resigned, the president said this was a “further reminder of how easy it is for people to get their hands on guns.”
Obama also expressed his condolences to the families affected by the tragedy: “May God give them the strength to bear the unbearable.”
The American flag over the White House was flying at half-mast, on the president’s orders, CNN reported.
As reported by The Times of Israel