Why were the Orlando shooter’s 911 calls redacted? Republicans blame Obama

*Editor’s note: The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI released a joint statement Monday with the complete version of the 911 calls from the Orlando shooter following public criticism after a partial transcript was released earlier in the day

Republicans tore into the decision by U.S. law enforcement officials to redact portions of a partial transcript of the 911 call between the Orlando shooter and police, where the gunman pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.

“Selectively editing this transcript is preposterous,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. “We know the shooter was a radical Islamist extremist inspired by ISIS. We also know he intentionally targeted the LGBT community. The administration should release the full, unredacted transcript so the public is clear-eyed about who did this, and why.”

The fierce backlash comes as the Federal Bureau of Investigation released the redacted transcript Monday that revealed more details about the deadly shooting in Orlando one week ago that left 49 people dead and more than 50 others wounded.

READ MORE: Orlando shooter described himself as ‘Islamic soldier’ in 911 calls to police

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The name of the gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, and people to whom he pledged allegiance, were omitted from the excerpt. FBI director James Comey said in a press conference last week that the shooter pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“This is evil, this is ISIS. It’s radical Islam. At some point, we lost 49 lives here and we lost a journalist who was beheaded by ISIS,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott told Fox News, referring to the Pulse nightclub shooting and the 2014 beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff, who was a Floridian.

“We need a president that’s going to say I care about destroying ISIS.”

Other Republicans and conservative commentators took to Twitter to criticize U.S. President Barack Obama over the redactions.

Ronald Hopper, FBI assistant special agent in charge in Orlando, told reporters on Monday that officials removed the shooter’s name and any reference to the so-called Islamic State to prevent triggering people who “might be like-minded.”

“Part of the redacting is meant to not give credence to individuals who have done terrorist acts in the past,” Hopper said. “We’re not going to propagate their violent rhetoric. And we see no value in putting those individual’s names back out there.

READ MORE: Orlando shooting victim played dead to survive

Lee Bentley, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, said the transcript offers the public a better idea of what officers “were dealing with” when they entered the nightclub.

“They should not be second guessed,” Bentley told reporters. “They performed valiantly during those early morning hours. Lives were saved.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They should not be second guessed," Bentley told reporters. "They performed valiantly during those early morning hours. Lives were saved."

Mateen called 911 roughly 30 minutes after the shooting began where he identified himself as an “Islamic soldier” while speaking Arabic. In a separate phone call with a negotiator he said America had to stop bombing Syria and Iraq and that was why he was “out here right now,” according to the FBI transcript.

On Sunday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on several news outlets the decision to redact portions of the transcript  was taken to “avoid re-victimizing”  anyone affected by the shooting.

“The reason why we’re going to limit these transcripts is to avoid re-victimizing those people that went through the horror,” Lynch said.