The man who shot over 100 people and killed 49 in an Orlando nightclub Saturday worked at a retirement home as a security guard for G4S – a giant, often controversial global contracting corporation that provides mercenary forces, prison guards and security services. G4S is one of the world’s largest private security companies, with more than 620,000 employees and a presence in over 100 countries.
G4S confirmed in a statement that Omar Mateen had worked for the company since 2007, and said it was “shocked and saddened” by the shooting. A later statement said that Mateen was subject to “detailed company screening” in 2007 and again in 2013, “with no adverse findings.”
But one of Mateen’s former coworkers told the New York Times that he “saw it coming,” that Mateen “talked about killing people all the time,” and that he was “always angry, sweating, just angry at the world.”
The coworker, who said he quit his job due to harassment from Mateen, explained that he “complained multiple times” to G4S, because Mateen didn’t like “blacks, women, lesbians, and Jews.”
Yet G4S continued to employ Mateen, who was able to obtain a “security officer” license to buy firearms in addition to his state license and conceal carry permit.
Mateen was even allowed to work at G4S while under FBI investigation. According to the FBI, Mateen was suspected of involvement in terror in 2013. The FBI investigation included the use of paid informants, recording conversations, following him, electronic surveillance, and interviewing him three times, FBI Director James Comey said on Monday. The investigation was closed because it produced no hard evidence of terrorist complicity.
G4S’s statement says that Mateen was subject to “checks from a U.S. law enforcement agency with no findings reported to G4S.” But according to the New York Times, the investigation took place because of “reports from [Mateen’s] coworkers, that he… suggested he may have had terrorist ties.”
G4S has previously been accused of improperly vetting its employees. In 2009, Danny Fitzsimons, a former British paratrooper and employee of a G4S subsidiary, killed two colleagues in Iraq, claiming to be “the antichrist” and saying he “must satisfy” his “bloodlust.” An official investigation concluded that his employer did not properly vet his psychological health.
In 2007, G4S signed contracts with five Israeli prisons and “interrogation centers,” leading to accusations that it was complicit in torture and the imprisonment of children. In 2010, three G4S security guards killed an Angolan national during a deportation flight from the U.K., by restraining him in an asphyxiating position.
In January, five G4S officers were arrested after a BBC expose revealed systematic abuse and neglect at a G4S-run youth jails.
G4S has also become a focal point for the Israel-focused Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement over its partnerships with Israeli prisons and military checkpoints. Activist pressure has led to divestment from the company by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Methodist Church, and UNICEF in Jordan. G4S has since announced that it would end its Israeli prison contracts.
In 2002, G4S acquired the United States-based Wackenhut Corporation, a private security and prison contractor with a deeply troubled history, including the widespread sexual assault of inmates at a Texas detention center in 1999.
Wackenhut went on to win a contract to guard the U.S. Embassy at Kabul, worth $189 million over five years. In 2009, the Project on Government Oversight sent a letter to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with photographic evidence that embassy guards had created a “Lord of the Flies environment,” at the embassy, said to include guards and supervisors “peeing on people, eating potato chips out of [buttock] cracks, vodka shots out of [buttock] cracks… [drunken] brawls, threats and intimidation from those leaders participating in this activity.”
Nevertheless, Wackenhut was hired by the U.S. government and BP in 2010 to manage perimeter security for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf Coast.
In 2011, G4S won a contract to provide security for the 2012 London Olympics – only to overcharge the British government and provide understaffed security.
On the news that Mateen worked for G4S, the company’s stock dropped 6.6 percent, wiping out $280 million in company value.
Top Photo: FBI agents seen outside of Pulse nightclub after the fatal shooting in Orlando, Florida.
Sigh…Exactly the type corporation that attracts wanna-be “cops”…Like Zimmerman.
Thank you for providing true journalist details, so difficult to come by in owned media outlets. It would seem this behavior is sanctioned by various paying customers; governments who hire mercenaries should be held responsible for harm done by vendors and thereby have regular audit of vendors for engagement in illegal activity.
Mateen was even allowed to work at G4S while under FBI investigation.
So … in your idea of a perfect society, anyone under investigation by the FBI would be fired on the spot? That’s not the kind of country I’d want to live in.
This column is 100% whining after the fact with 20-20 hindsight. The author should be ashamed.
Stop being a naive dupe. In the ‘real’ world, anyone under investigation by the FBI and questioned/interviewed on 3 separate occasions that the FBI is willing to admit, would’ve been sh*t canned from their employment. BUT, since G4S is (obviously) part of the government –and since the government, you know, only on occasion has been known to need useful dupes as patsies, Mateen was naturally permitted to continue on with G4S. I know I feel safer.
“Footage from a 2012 award-winning documentary, “The Big Fix,” has emerged showing Orlando gunman Omar Mateen working as a security guard contracted to the security company G4S following the 2010 BP oil spill. He seems skeptical of the cleanup efforts.
‘”No one gives a s*** here. Everybody’s just, get out to get paid. They’re like hoping for more oil to come out and more people to complain so they’ll have jobs,” Mateen tells a reporter. “They want more disaster to happen.”‘
________________
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/orlando-nightclub-massacre-documentary-shows-omar-mateen-in-2010-following-bp-oil-spill/
CBS NEWS June 15, 2016, 6:58 AM
Apparently he did read his employee copy of “International” with his reference to “They.”
“International Issue 3 2010
In this issue we look at how G4S is helping the oil and gas industry as its search for reserves goes to extremes, how natural disasters create challenges around the world and why putting mentally ill offenders in prison may not be the best solution. “
Manchurian candidates all of them. Sacrificed by our government/military to steer the herd. It works very well. We are truely fecked!
The FBI, it’s reported , never closes investigations… A person suspected of terrorism in the US is ‘disrupted’ to near death, but not this suspect? Doesn’t pass the smell test. Dig deeper.
If there were employment repercussions from FBI investgations, that’s a huge secondary effect that would touch a *lot* of people. There would be follow-on changes for sure, not the least for the FBI to be able to manage its workload without having to hire everybody they aren’t investigating.
One U.S. citizen betrays us; he was born with certain rights and privileges and he used them in deeply upsetting way…
So, we have to do something about this; but what? It seems more and more we’re just taking our own rights and privileges away. This is inline with the famous “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” bit.
Mateen had guarantees under 2nd Am; he also had the right to free thought and free speech even if we find it disagreeable or upsetting. Even though I don’t, as of right now, believe Mateen was a terrorist, the terrorists are winning as a result of his and others actions on U.S. soil (workplace beheading, army base shooting, military recruiting shooting, etc). They are making us take our liberties away. We’re unbecoming American.
On a much more related note to this story: it fuels conspiracy theory.
Continuous BS. What he did was an extremely American thing to do, and mild compared to how you people act out in other countries. Nobody is taking your so called liberties away. You deliberately chucked them into the dumpster a long time ago.
No disagreement there.
very reminiscent of BlackWater
I doubt G4S was “shocked” seems like they are responsible for ignoring the threat to co-workers and others.
He appears to be the perfect candidate for grooming.
I have a technical question for anybody who could assist. Having just checked all the TI contacts, I do not see the person to ask.
After commenting, the page then returns to the top of this (or the current) article, instead of returning me to either the comment section or my post. It could be the nature of Firefox, but it could be the website design. Does this happen to everybody or is it just me?
Thank you.
It happens to me on Firefox also. Doesn’t make much sense, but one issue is that if you are fast to open the comments section your comment hasn’t posted yet anyway, so there’s no point going straight there.
Thanks Josh for raising a technical question. I have the same problem on FF (need to check on Opera). Further, the comments section closes and must be re-opened. That is shitty. Also note that you can not use “End” to jump to the bottom of the article because there is no end of the article stream. Some people must really get off on the endless scrolling. How about setting it up to stop closing the comments and arbitrarily jumping to a different scroll position (page managers). People can still scroll to their hearts content, whatever their reason(s).
I have another scrolling issue: Please enable a first to last sort already! It’s just one more toggle. Threaded is great, and within threads reads first to last. But the threads are reverse-chronological with no option to reverse back again. I like sorting “latest” to top to see where the conversation is currently, but I also like the option to read top to bottom and follow the conversation. It’s just an option! Please enable it!
Forgot to mention: It does help that there is a comments button at the top of articles to get back in (goes to top of comments). I get no joy going back to the mouse, but at least the button is fixed right there, and it is only the one click. Then, you can search your username or some strategic term to try and jump to your comment (where some might wish the page would have stayed put in the first place).
Wait a minute, Mr Emmons,
“Mateen was even allowed to work at G4S while under FBI investigation.”
Presumed innocent.
I am certain that there should be a lawsuit if this was handled differently.
Remember, Sec’y Clinton is even allowed to be the presumptive nominee for President, in spite of being under FBI investigation. I wish she weren’t (allowed, not investigated).
It’s not surprising that a company providing mercenary services would hire killers. The only problem appears to be the employees enjoyed their work so much, they continued working on their own time.
The NDA signed by all new-hires is specifically designed to avoid this sort of public embarrassment. It covers all trade secrets, which of course include any and all sanctioned political activities. Unfortunately, it is too late for G4S’s attorneys to sue this particular contract violator but they do enjoy a surfeit of other targets.
I am wondering when anti-aircraft cannons will be available for self-defence in line with the Second Amendment. King Jing Un has already demonstrated its utility.
“This is the first of two days of hearings before the House Interior Committee on the subject of covert surveillance authorized by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company and conducted by The Wackenhut Corporation.”
HOUSE INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT HEARINGS ON ALYESKA COVERT OPERATIONS – NOVEMBER 4, 1991
Perhaps Congress just needs a refresher course.
It really is a potent opening statement and worthy of some quotes in full:
“I want to make very clear that it is not the purpose of these hearings to determine whether Mr. Hamel, Alyeska or Exxon are correct in the matter of their lawsuits and business disputes. Nor is it the purpose of these hearings to examine whether Mr. Hamel’s various allegations about oil company environmental violations are true or not. These are matters for another day and other forums.
While the validity of Mr. Hamel’s environmental allegations is not the focus of these hearings, the fact that Mr. Hamel was an important source of information for this Committee’s ongoing investigation of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and Alyeska operations is very relevant.
In the next two days, we will explore the issue of whether Alyeska’s use of a “bogus” environmental group formed by Wackenhut spies was an effort to disrupt and compromise a source of information for this Committee’s continuing investigation of oil industry practices in Alaska.
These hearings are intended to lay bear the full story of what happened during the covert surveillance of Mr. Hamel and others. We also will seek to determine why the spy operation was initiated and, equally important, why it was terminated.
In my view, it is important to find out why some of the largest and most powerful corporations in this country would resort to such elaborate “sting” tactics to invade and destroy the privacy of Mr. Hamel, federal and state officials, environmentalists and ordinary citizens.”
HONORABLE GEORGE MILLER CHAIRMAN – NOVEMBER 4, 199
This precisely the kind of talk one incessantly hears in Texas polite society. It’s the kind of banter that makes a patriot purr like a kitty. No wonder the FBI gave him a pass, and why G4S hired him.
“This is precisely the kind of talk… ” was a reference to the quote from the witness who said he “Talked about killing people all the time.”
G4S also linked to abuse in only private prison in South Africa
http://mg.co.za/article/2013-10-25-00-mangaung-prison-is-a-private-hell/
https://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/ruth-hopkins/private-security-abuses-in-south-african-prisons-ignored
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/09/g4s-sacked-south-africa-prison-mangaung
Many surviving Stasi Zersetzung targets are wondering if a journalist will serendipitously trip over G4S’s likely involvement in domestic torture, understand the significance of what they have tripped on, then have the courage to investigate.
I so wish you would stop seeding the comments here with this wish that’s never going to happen. The journalists here are not going to credit the delusions of people who suffer from your affliction.
Mona is a bit too subtle for me to understand at times, so I could be wrong, but I get the impression she would rather not see G4S investigated for possible involvement in routine domestic torture in the USA. Israel, sure, I think. But not in her country.
Perhaps she is not familiar with the Gulf Coast.
Nor Alaska. Or maybe 1991 is too far back for her to recall.
“AMY GOODMAN: Chuck Hamel, you have a long history watching BP, over, what, more than 15 years. In fact, you settled a case with them, when they — did they hire Wackenhut to investigate you?
CHUCK HAMEL: BP, who was running the Alaska pipeline, engaged the Wackenhut security company, five undercover women, who — and men, but other men — to surveil my wife and me, in trying to discredit me, hidden cameras in hotel rooms. And all five of the ladies realized that I wasn’t the bad person that they tried to make me out to be to discredit me, and they all came over to our side. I think 60 Minutes called them “Chucky’s Angels.” But where we’re getting down to, Amy, is they were discovered, and then they attacked me. $18 million worth of legal activities going on around me. A van in front of my home, picking off our phones, picking up our trash. And all that, you know, I can live with, but trying to discredit me with women, that hurt. I mean, that going in BP fashion, but a little too far.”
AUGUST 10, 2006 – Democracy Now!
You are a very disturbed person, as are some of your fellow sufferers who demand the journalists here, and elsewhere, adopt as true your serious and sometimes dangerous delusions. The New York Times is not always the best source for good journalism, but this recent piece on your affliction is quite good.
Please see the excellent rebuttal to the New York Times piece (of shit) at http://www.fightgangstalking.com (June 12, 2016).
No thank you. I’ve researched TIs quite a bit, and am therefore confident that no website called fihtgangstalking.com has anything but TI delusions to offer.
Further, your moniker is the name of one of the truly unhinged TI Youtube programs. Please get help — your beliefs are not benign in a good number of people.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify–my moniker has nothing to do with anything posted on Youtube or anything else on the Internet. I learned of these videos and web sites after I chose the moniker. Frankly, I just want America to wake the hell up!
Please take LaNita Jones suggestion and look at the Democracy Now! interview starting at about 20 minutes in (http://www.democracynow.org/2006/8/10/did_bp_purposefully_allow_its_alaska). THAT is what counterintelligence stalking is, Mona. Try to weed out the crazy talk (and I agree, there is much of it) and realize that this stuff happens to people–good people!–who dare to go up against the wealthy and powerful. It is meant to destroy and too often it has succeeded.
The most cogent information out there is at fightgangstalking.com. Read and learn, Mona. Or stay safe in your little cocoon of denial and hope it never happens to you.
Intercept readers with an interest in counterintelligence operations (especially “disruption” operations and disinformation about such activities) should note that, based on her comment, Mona’s idea of a credible source of information about those matters is a reporter whose most recent previous article for the NY Times, for example, was a piece about the pop music group, ABBA.
As “WakeUpAmerica” notes below, a serious analysis of the Times article is posted at Fight Gang Stalking — along with a comprehensive archive of published news reports about the topic.
I hope those targets aren’t holding their collective breath.
Just exactly whose behalf and interest is being served by/from these neo-century, desupervised public-private “partnerships” (syndicates)?
Well, on the one hand, that’s good for the BDS movment and the cause of justice for Palestinians. But on the other, this company is clearly still full of the bad.
> Mateen was even allowed to work at G4S while under FBI investigation.
As it should be. Consider the alternative. Would it be preferable that the FBI can put you under investigation and get you fired just because they’re suspicious of you?
In armed security work? I’d say that depends. As almost anything else, I completely agree.
Given the FBI’s attitudes and track record, it is reasonable to assume he was given a pass because he hated all the right people.
“Nevertheless, Wackenhut was hired by the U.S. government and BP in 2010 to manage perimeter security for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf Coast.”
Thank you, Alex.
“Mateen was even allowed to work at G4S while under FBI investigation. According to the FBI, Mateen was suspected of involvement in terror in 2013. ”
Are you implying that people should be fired or suspended from work when the FBI investigates them?
Did you even find any evidence that that G4S knew he was under investigation and for what reason?
“Did you even find any evidence that that G4S knew he was under investigation and for what reason?”
I would imagine the investigation must have included some form of communication with his employer, otherwise that’s disregarding a big part of someone’s life.