--- title: Orlando Shooting: Barack Obama Says Omar Mateen Acted Alone description: President Obama said Monday that there is "no clear evidence" Omar Mateen was a part of a larger terrorist plot canonical: https://time.com/4366418/orlando-shooting-isis-barack-obama/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-13T15:48:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:33:57.007Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama: 'No Clear Evidence' of Larger Plot in Orlando Shooting og:description: "This an example of the kind of homegrown extremism that all of us have been so concerned about" og:url: https://time.com/4366418/orlando-shooting-isis-barack-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d9b5c1a6e09fd9e/6988978d656a3f1d76bcbe49/gettyimages-539566950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Obama Makes Statement On Mass Shooting In Orlando At White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama: 'No Clear Evidence' of Larger Plot in Orlando Shooting twitter:description: "This an example of the kind of homegrown extremism that all of us have been so concerned about" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d9b5c1a6e09fd9e/6988978d656a3f1d76bcbe49/gettyimages-539566950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Says 'No Clear Evidence' of Larger Plot in Orlando Shooting > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 13, 2016 3:48 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement regarding the Orlando mass shooting on June 12, 2016 in Washington, DC. At least 50 people were killed and 53 were injured after suspected gunman Omar Mateen opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Alex Wong—Getty Images U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement regarding the Orlando mass shooting on June 12, 2016 in Washington, DC. At least 50 people were killed and 53 were injured after suspected gunman Omar Mateen opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Alex Wong—Getty Images Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 13, 2016 3:48 PM UTC President Obama said Monday that there is “no clear evidence” [Omar Mateen](http://time.com/4365360/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen/), the suspected gunman in [the worst mass shooting in U.S. history](http://time.com/4365325/orlando-shooting-pulse-nightclub-deadliest-history/), was a part of a larger [terrorist](http://time.com/4365507/orlando-shooting-isis-claims-responsibility-terror/) plot or that he was directed by any terrorist group. “This an example of the kind of homegrown extremism that all of us have been so concerned about for a very long time,” Obama said in the Oval Office, a day after the shooting at an Orlando nightclub left 50 people dead and even more injured. He spoke shortly after meeting with FBI Director James Comey, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, National Counterterrorism Center Director Nick Rasmussen, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. “Countering this extremist ideology is increasingly going to be as important as making sure that we are disrupting plots from the outside,” Obama said. Authorities said Mateen called 911 from inside the nightclub, sounding “cool and calm,” and declared allegiance to ISIS. The terrorist group has since taken credit for the attack. ISIS has increasingly looked to inspire independent actors in the U.S. to mount attacks, taking credit later. “There is no evidence so far that he was directed \[by extremists\]… no indication that he was a part of a larger plot,” Obama said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4366418/orlando-shooting-isis-barack-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4366418/orlando-shooting-isis-barack-obama/"},"headline":"President Obama Says 'No Clear Evidence' of Larger Plot in Orlando Shooting","datePublished":"2016-06-13T15:48:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:33:57.007Z","description":"\"This an example of the kind of homegrown extremism that all of us have been so concerned about\"","url":"https://time.com/4366418/orlando-shooting-isis-barack-obama/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d9b5c1a6e09fd9e/6988978d656a3f1d76bcbe49/gettyimages-539566950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d9b5c1a6e09fd9e/6988978d656a3f1d76bcbe49/gettyimages-539566950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Makes Statement On Mass Shooting In Orlando At White House","caption":"President Obama Makes Statement On Mass Shooting In Orlando At White House","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4366418/orlando-shooting-isis-barack-obama/","name":"President Obama Says 'No Clear Evidence' of Larger Plot in Orlando Shooting"}}]}] ```