By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Two years before Omar Mateen opened fire on an Orlando nightclub, a Muslim friend warned the FBI about concerns that Mateen was becoming self-radicalized.
“The fact that this person was a Muslim, and also that he was a Muslim from my community and somebody that I knew — very, very, very disturbing,” Mohammad Mailk told CBS News.
The two met a decade ago and attended the same mosque.
Malik said he became concerned and called the FBI after Mateen confided that he was inspired by radical Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki’s videos.
“He told me they were very powerful,” he recalled. “That raised the red flag even higher for me.”
The FBI investigated Mateen for the second time in two years, but decided Mateen wasn’t a clear threat. Malik said the FBI never asked him again about Mateen.
“These people that have committed these acts have radicalized on their own — not through the mosque,” Malik said.
