Orlando Club Shooter Identified; Texas Lt. Gov. Tweets Gays Had it Coming to Them

Mass murderer Omar Mateen

CBS News and ABC News are both reporting that the shooter in the terror attack on Club Pulse in Orando has been identified as Omar Mateen, reportedly from an Afghani immigrant family.  Also noted is that Mateen had been on the radar of federal authorities for some time.  Disturbingly, he was a licensed gun owner who seemingly got his murder weapons legally.  Sadly, in addition, one updated report suggest the death toll may now be 50, with 52 rather than the initial 42 injured.  This from ABC News:

Omar Mateen, a U.S.-born citizen, has been identified as the suspect in Sunday's mass shooting that left at least 20 dead and 42 wounded at Pulse Nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Mateen's parents were born in Afghanistan, and he was "on the radar" of U.S. officials for some time, but was not the target of a specific investigation, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

CBS is carrying similar information:

Sources have confirmed to CBS News that authorities are investigating whether the suspect, who has been named as Omar Mateen, had ties to Islamic terrorism. Mateen, of Port. St. Lucie, Florida, is a U.S. citizen with no apparent criminal history, according to sources.

As horrible and disgusting as all of this is, likewise frightening is the reaction of Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick posted this message to the LGBT community:

Make no mistake.   Religion and its fundamentalist followers are perhaps the greatest evil in the world.  Religion's gift to mankind is a trail of death, destruction and ruined lives over the centuries with the perpetrators of evil typically claiming to be doing "God's" or "Allah's" work.  Let burn every Bible and every Koran and obliterate every reference to them from humanity.