The French resort of Cannes won court backing for its &quot;burkini ban&quot; today as a judge refused to overturn its decision to forbid Muslim women from wearing the full-body swimsuit. 
 
Local authorities in the Riviera city, home to the famous Cannes film festival, moved to ban burkinis from beaches at the end of July. The nearby resort of Villeneuve-Loubet followed suit today. 
 
Three women backed by the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) challenged the Cannes decision in court on Friday, saying it was illegal and calling for it to be suspended. 
 
But a court in Nice rejected the request, saying the move was legal under French law forbidding people from &quot;invoking their religious beliefs to skirt common rules regulating relations between public authorities and private individuals&quot;. 
 
The judge noted that the Cannes ban had been declared &quot;in the context of the state of emergency and recent Islamist attacks, notably in Nice a month ago&quot;. 
 
&quot;The wearing of distinctive clothing, other than that usually worn for swimming, can indeed only be interpreted in this context as a straightforward symbol of religiosity,&quot; the ruling said. 
 
CCIF lawyer Sefen Guez Guez said he would appeal the decision before France&#39;s highest administrative court, adding: &quot;This decision opens the door to a ban on all religious symbols in the public space.&quot; 
 
Anti-racism groups have expressed outrage at the burkini bans, which come at a highly sensitive time following a series of jihadist attacks in France. 
 
Islamic dress has long been a hot-button issue in secular France, where the full-face veil is banned in public places. But there is no ban on wearing religious symbols or clothing. 
 
 
&#39;Ban for sanitary decisions&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Cannes mayor David Lisnard said he had signed off on the burkini ban out of &quot;respect for good customs and secularism&quot;, a founding principle of the French republic. 
 
In nearby Villeneuve-Loubet, mayor Lionnel Luca had a different justification for banning the garment, saying he made the decision for sanitary reasons. 
 
&quot;I was informed that there was a couple on one of our beaches where the wife was swimming fully dressed,&quot; said. 
 
&quot;I considered that unacceptable for hygienic reasons and that in general it was unwelcome.&quot; 
 
He disputing charges that the burkini ban was discriminatory, saying it was intended &quot;to avoid any disturbance to public order in the region which was hit by attacks&quot;. 
 
Burkinis have also been in the headlines in France this week after a waterpark in the city of Marseille cancelled plans to host a private event for women wearing burkinis, following a public uproar. 
 
France has been hit by three major terror attacks in 18 months, and the Islamic State group claimed two assaults on French territory in July. 
 
On July 14, Nice was the target of an attack claimed by IS which killed 85 people, when an Algerian ploughed a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day. 
 
And on July 26, a priest was killed in his church in northwestern France by two attackers who had proclaimed their allegiance to IS. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

A Nice court rejected request by 3 women saying the move was legal under French law forbidding people from 'invoking religious beliefs'

The French resort of Cannes won court backing for its "burkini ban" today as a judge refused to overturn its decision to forbid Muslim women from wearing the full-body swimsuit. Local authorities in the Riviera city, home to the famous Cannes film festival, moved to ban burkinis from beaches at the end of July. The nearby resort of Villeneuve-Loubet followed suit today. Three women backed by the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) challenged the Cannes decision in court on Friday, saying it was illegal and calling for it to be suspended. But a court in Nice rejected the request, saying the move was legal under French law forbidding people from "invoking their religious beliefs to skirt common rules regulating relations between public authorities and private individuals". The judge noted that the Cannes ban had been declared "in the context of the state of emergency and recent Islamist attacks, notably in Nice a month ago". "The wearing of distinctive clothing, other than that usually worn for swimming, can indeed only be interpreted in this context as a straightforward symbol of religiosity," the ruling said. CCIF lawyer Sefen Guez Guez said he would appeal the decision before France's highest administrative court, adding: "This decision opens the door to a ban on all religious symbols in the public space." Anti-racism groups have expressed outrage at the burkini bans, which come at a highly sensitive time following a series of jihadist attacks in France. Islamic dress has long been a hot-button issue in secular France, where the full-face veil is banned in public places. But there is no ban on wearing religious symbols or clothing. 'Ban for sanitary decisions' Cannes mayor David Lisnard said he had signed off on the burkini ban out of "respect for good customs and secularism", a founding principle of the French republic. In nearby Villeneuve-Loubet, mayor Lionnel Luca had a different justification for banning the garment, saying he made the decision for sanitary reasons. "I was informed that there was a couple on one of our beaches where the wife was swimming fully dressed," said. "I considered that unacceptable for hygienic reasons and that in general it was unwelcome." He disputing charges that the burkini ban was discriminatory, saying it was intended "to avoid any disturbance to public order in the region which was hit by attacks". Burkinis have also been in the headlines in France this week after a waterpark in the city of Marseille cancelled plans to host a private event for women wearing burkinis, following a public uproar. France has been hit by three major terror attacks in 18 months, and the Islamic State group claimed two assaults on French territory in July. On July 14, Nice was the target of an attack claimed by IS which killed 85 people, when an Algerian ploughed a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day. And on July 26, a priest was killed in his church in northwestern France by two attackers who had proclaimed their allegiance to IS. (AFP)

French court upholds Cannes 'burkini ban'?

<div>Islamophobia has risen markedly in Germany, a study published today showed, underscoring the tensions simmering in German society after more than one million migrants, mostly Muslims, arrived last year. 
 
Every second respondent in the study of 2,420 people said they sometimes felt like a foreigner in their own country due to the many Muslims here, the number of which has gone&nbsp;up to&nbsp;43 per cent in 2014 from&nbsp;30.2 per cent in 2009. 
 
The number of people who believe Muslims should be forbidden from coming to Germany has also risen, the study showed, and now stands at just above 40 per cent, up from about a fifth in 2009. 
 
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Leipzig in co-operation with the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation and the Otto-Brenner foundation. 
 
The influx of migrants has fuelled support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party that wants to ban minarets and the burqa and has described Islam as incompatible with the German constitution. 
 
The number of attacks on refugee shelters has also risen.&nbsp; 
 
Supporters of the AfD were most likely to favour stopping Muslims from coming to Germany while Green voters were most likely to disagree with the statement that Muslims made them feel like foreigners, the survey found. 
 
On Monday German President Joachim Gauck warned against demonising Muslims and against polarisation along religious and ethnic lines in German society when he joined a Ramadan dinner in Berlin.&nbsp; 
 
Germany is home to nearly four million Muslims, about five per cent of the total population. Many of the longer established Muslim community in Germany came from Turkey to find work, but those who have arrived over the past year have mostly been fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. 
 
The study also examined extreme right-wing views towards other groups in Germany. 
&quot;While general prejudice against migrants fell slightly, the focus of resentment towards asylums seekers, Muslims as well as Sinti and Roma, increased,&quot; the study&#39;s authors said. 
 
The number of those surveyed that believed Sinti and Roma peoples tended towards criminality rose to nearly 60 per cent, while slightly more than 80 per cent of respondents wanted the state not to be too generous when examining asylum applications. 
 
Almost 40 per cent of those surveyed in east Germany agreed with the statement that foreigners only came to Germany to take advantage of its social welfare benefits, compared to about 30 per cent of those in the west of the country.</div>

Over a million Muslim migrants arrived in Germany in 2015, making Germans feel like foreigners in their own land

Islamophobia has risen markedly in Germany, a study published today showed, underscoring the tensions simmering in German society after more than one million migrants, mostly Muslims, arrived last year. Every second respondent in the study of 2,420 people said they sometimes felt like a foreigner in their own country due to the many Muslims here, the number of which has gone up to 43 per cent in 2014 from 30.2 per cent in 2009. The number of people who believe Muslims should be forbidden from coming to Germany has also risen, the study showed, and now stands at just above 40 per cent, up from about a fifth in 2009. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Leipzig in co-operation with the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation and the Otto-Brenner foundation. The influx of migrants has fuelled support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party that wants to ban minarets and the burqa and has described Islam as incompatible with the German constitution. The number of attacks on refugee shelters has also risen. Supporters of the AfD were most likely to favour stopping Muslims from coming to Germany while Green voters were most likely to disagree with the statement that Muslims made them feel like foreigners, the survey found. On Monday German President Joachim Gauck warned against demonising Muslims and against polarisation along religious and ethnic lines in German society when he joined a Ramadan dinner in Berlin. Germany is home to nearly four million Muslims, about five per cent of the total population. Many of the longer established Muslim community in Germany came from Turkey to find work, but those who have arrived over the past year have mostly been fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The study also examined extreme right-wing views towards other groups in Germany. "While general prejudice against migrants fell slightly, the focus of resentment towards asylums seekers, Muslims as well as Sinti and Roma, increased," the study's authors said. The number of those surveyed that believed Sinti and Roma peoples tended towards criminality rose to nearly 60 per cent, while slightly more than 80 per cent of respondents wanted the state not to be too generous when examining asylum applications. Almost 40 per cent of those surveyed in east Germany agreed with the statement that foreigners only came to Germany to take advantage of its social welfare benefits, compared to about 30 per cent of those in the west of the country.

Islamophobia on rise in Germany: Study

The photo from Omar Mateen&rsquo;s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. 
 
His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America&#39;s worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. 
 
As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. 
 
Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. 
 
His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as &quot;bipolar,&quot; and emotionally disturbed with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he would &quot;express hatred towards everything&quot;. She was &quot;rescued&quot; by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. 
 
&quot;He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life most of the violence was directed towards me,&rdquo; she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. 
 
She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. 
 
In Fort Pierce on Florida&rsquo;s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. 
 
&quot;He hardly had any friends,&quot; Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. &quot;He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave.&quot; 
 
Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he didn&#39;t display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. 
 
Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. 
 
A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. 
 
Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. 
 
King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. 
 
&ldquo;What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us.&quot; 
 
While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and &quot;got really buff,&quot; King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. &ldquo;Something must have changed&quot; since he last saw him, he added. 
 
Mateen&#39;s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. 
 
FBI INTERVIEWS 
 
The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. 
 
At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world&#39;s largest private security firms. 
 
He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. 
 
G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. 
 
Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was &ldquo;unable to verify the substance of his comments,&rdquo; Hopper said. 
 
Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. &quot;Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he&rsquo;d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder,&quot; Kime said. 
 
Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen&#39;s at G4S, said that Mateen&#39;s anger was &quot;constant.&quot; 
 
&quot;Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words,&quot; he said. 
 
In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. 
 
Hopper said Mateen&rsquo;s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that &ldquo;he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.&rdquo; 
 
&#39;NOT A STABLE PERSON&#39; 
 
Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday&rsquo;s attack. 
 
He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. 
 
Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. 
 
&quot;He was not a stable person,&quot; she said. &quot;He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn&#39;t finished or something like that.&quot; 
 
Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. 
 
City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen&#39;s apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Wife of the gunman, who killed at least 50 people in a shooting rampage at a gay club in Orlando, said he was 'bipolar' and often beat her

The photo from Omar Mateen’s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America's worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as "bipolar," and emotionally disturbed with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he would "express hatred towards everything". She was "rescued" by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. "He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life most of the violence was directed towards me,” she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. In Fort Pierce on Florida’s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. "He hardly had any friends," Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. "He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave." Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he didn't display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. “What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday’s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us." While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and "got really buff," King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. “Something must have changed" since he last saw him, he added. Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. FBI INTERVIEWS The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world's largest private security firms. He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was “unable to verify the substance of his comments,” Hopper said. Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. "Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he’d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder," Kime said. Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen's at G4S, said that Mateen's anger was "constant." "Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words," he said. In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. Hopper said Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.” 'NOT A STABLE PERSON' Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack. He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. Mateen's former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. "He was not a stable person," she said. "He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that." Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen's apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Orlando shooting: gunman described as 'quiet', but grew hateful, anti-gay

<div>The photo from Omar Mateen&rsquo;s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. 
 
His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America&#39;s worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. 
 
As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. 
 
Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. 
 
His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as &quot;bipolar&quot;&nbsp;and emotionally disturbed, with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he &quot;expresed&nbsp;hatred towards everything&quot;. She was &quot;rescued&quot; by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. 
 
&quot;He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life, most of the violence was directed towards me,&rdquo; she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. 
 
She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. 
 
In Fort Pierce on Florida&rsquo;s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. 
 
&quot;He hardly had any friends,&quot; Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. &quot;He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave.&quot; 
 
Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he did&nbsp;not&nbsp;display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. 
 
Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent, but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. 
 
A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. 
 
Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. 
 
King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. 
 
&ldquo;What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us.&quot; 
 
While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and &quot;got really buff,&quot; King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. &ldquo;Something must have changed&quot; since he last saw him, he added. 
 
Mateen&#39;s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. 
 
FBI interviews 
 
The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. 
 
At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world&#39;s largest private security firms. 
 
He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. 
 
G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. 
 
Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was &ldquo;unable to verify the substance of his comments,&rdquo; Hopper said. 
 
Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. &quot;Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he&rsquo;d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder,&quot; Kime said. 
 
Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen&#39;s at G4S, said that Mateen&#39;s anger was &quot;constant.&quot; 
 
&quot;Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words,&quot; he said. 
 
In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. 
 
Hopper said Mateen&rsquo;s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that &ldquo;he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.&rdquo; 
 
&#39;Not a stable person&#39; 
 
Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday&rsquo;s attack. 
 
He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. 
 
Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. 
 
&quot;He was not a stable person,&quot; she said. &quot;He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn&#39;t finished or something like that.&quot; 
 
Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. 
 
City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen&#39;s apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.</div>

Wife of the gunman, who shot down at least 50 at a gay club in Orlando, said he was 'bipolar' and often beat her

The photo from Omar Mateen’s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America's worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as "bipolar" and emotionally disturbed, with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he "expresed hatred towards everything". She was "rescued" by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. "He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life, most of the violence was directed towards me,” she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. In Fort Pierce on Florida’s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. "He hardly had any friends," Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. "He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave." Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he did not display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent, but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. “What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday’s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us." While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and "got really buff," King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. “Something must have changed" since he last saw him, he added. Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. FBI interviews The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world's largest private security firms. He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was “unable to verify the substance of his comments,” Hopper said. Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. "Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he’d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder," Kime said. Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen's at G4S, said that Mateen's anger was "constant." "Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words," he said. In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. Hopper said Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.” 'Not a stable person' Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack. He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. Mateen's former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. "He was not a stable person," she said. "He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that." Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen's apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Orlando shooting: Gunman described as 'quiet', but grew hateful, anti-gay

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