Pete Sessions says Orlando shooting site was not gay club

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) on Tuesday claimed the Orlando nightclub that was the site of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was not a gay club.

“It was a young person’s nightclub, I’m told. And there were some [LGBT people] there, but it was mostly Latinos,” said Sessions, the House Rules Committee chairman, according to National Journal reporter Daniel Newhauser.

Sessions’s office later told Newhauser that Sessions confused the fact that straight people were at the club for a general night club.

Asked Rules Chair Sessions if Orlando shooting changes calculation on LGBT Maloney amdmt. He argued Pulse was not a gay club.

— Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) June 14, 2016

“It was a young person’s nightclub, I’m told. And there were some [LGBT ppl] there, but it was mostly Latinos” https://t.co/c5qvdSk0kF

— Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) June 14, 2016

Pete Sessions’ staff tells me he was wrong. Confused fact there were straight ppl there for general night club, Latin nite for Latino club

— Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) June 14, 2016

{mosads}The attack early Sunday morning, which left 49 dead and many more injured, took place at the nightclub Pulse.

On its website, the club calls itself “Orlando’s hottest gay bar located in the heart of downtown.” The website also describes the club as a “premier gay night club.”

The club was founded in memory of a man who died of AIDS, according to the website. Barbara Poma, one of the founders and owners of Pulse, started the club in memory of her brother.

Poma and her co-founder wanted the place to have an “atmosphere that embraced the gay lifestyle” and to be more than “just another gay club,” according to the website.

Omar Mateen, the shooter, had reportedly visited the club several times before carrying out the attack.

— Updated at 5:33 p.m.