Gov. Baker: Orlando shooting hits ‘particularly close to home’ for its LGBT hatred
The deadly attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando hit “particularly close to home” for Gov. Charlie Baker because of the shooter’s anti-LGBT hatred, Baker said in a press conference on Monday.
Baker, whose brother is gay, said he had reached out to his brother and other gay friends and asked them how they were feeling in light of the mass shooting that appeared to specifically target members of the LGBT community.
“The answer I got, which I think is pretty consistent with the response you get from anybody in the LGBT community at the moment, is that, ‘I spend a lot of time thinking that things are getting better and that things are improving, and then we all discover there just are some people who hate because of who we are,'” Baker said. “There’s no room for that here in the Commonwealth or anywhere in society.”
Baker cautioned against drawing too many conclusions this early in the investigation into gunman Omar Mateen, but he did condemn the shooter’s anti-LGBT hatred.
“I think this guy, based on early reports, hated with extreme prejudice people who are part of the LGBT community,” he said. “That’s the one fact I think everyone can agree on.”
In comments to NBC News, the shooter’s father said that Mateen had recently become enraged after seeing a same-sex couple kissing in front of his family.
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