Ron Hopper is an Federal Bureau of Investigation agent known for investigating the Pulse Orlando Shooting (2016). He is an assistant agent in charge of the FBI's Tampa Division.

In interviews, Hopper said that Omar Mateen had been interviewed in 2013 and 2014. Agents first investigated Mateen after he made inflammatory comments to co-workers alleging possible ties to terrorists. Mateen was interviewed twice and, when investigators were unable to verify the details of his comments, the FBI closed the probe.

In 2014, the agency looked into potential ties connecting Mateen to Moner Mohammad Abusalha, the first American to carry out a suicide attack in Syria.

Like Mateen, Abusalha lived in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Hopper says agents determined that contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or a threat at that time.

Ron says the FBI has interviewed Mateen's wife Noor Salman. ^[1] He considers the shooting to be both an act of terrorism and a hate crime.