Obama: Orlando Massacre Appears To Be Homegrown
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- President Barack Obama says it appears the Orlando massacre was homegrown.
Following a security briefing Monday morning, the president spoke about the investigation into the mass shooting that killed at least 49 people and injured 53 others.
"At this stage we see no clear evidence that he was directed externally. It does appear that at the last-minute he announced allegiance to ISIL but there's no evidence so far that he was in fact directed by ISIL," said President Obama in a somber tone with Vice President Joe Biden by his side.
The president went on to clarify they did not believe, at this stage, there was evidence Omar Mateen was part of a larger plot.
Despite a lack of connection to a bigger plot, the president said the mass shooting may have been inspired by extremist information.
"We're still at the preliminary stages of the investigation and there's a lot more that we have to learn. This is being treated as a terrorist investigation. It appears that the shooter was inspired by various extremist info that was distributed over the internet. All those materials are being searched and exploited," said the president.
The president said the type of extremist propaganda that may have inspired Mateen is one of the biggest challenges in preventing and countering terrorism.
The president also brought up the controversial topic of gun control - pointing out Mateen was able to legally obtain the assault rifle used in the attack.
"We are also going to have to make sure that we think about the risks we are willing to take by being so lax in how we make very powerful firearms available to people in this country," said the president.
Late Monday evening, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest announced the president will travel to Orlando.
JUST IN: @POTUS to travel to Orlando on Thursday, White House @PressSec announces https://t.co/IynnJXh3yW pic.twitter.com/9u5YQYHjLI
— CBSN (@CBSNLive) June 14, 2016
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