Around 320
people were inside Pulse nightclub, a popular LGBTQ+ venue, in the early hours
of 12 June, 2016, when a 29-year-old man entered the building with two guns. The venue was hosting a “Latin Night”
at the time, meaning most of those present were Latinx.
As the man
opened fire, those inside the Pulse nightclub called and texted friends and
loved ones appealing for help. And then, at 2.09am, a chilling message was
posted to the venue’s Facebook page: “Everyone get out of Pulse and keep
running.”
Shortly after
5am that morning, the gunman was shot dead.
Six years on,
the mass shooting in the Pulse nightclub shooting remains the single deadliest
attack on the LGBTQ+ community in the history of the United States.
The events of
that night sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ+ community all across the world as
news spread that 49 people between the ages of 18 and 50 had been shot dead.
In the years
that have elapsed, families, friends and loved ones of those who died have
worked hard to make sure that those who had their lives cruelly cut short will
never be forgotten.
Each year in
June, vigils are held in Florida to remember those who were lost. This year’s
remembrances come after a rash of mass shootings across America, and amid
renewed calls for gun reform.
At 1.58am, the
time the first gunshots were fired, on Sunday (12 June), people shared tearful
hugs outside the Pulse Memorial. At midday local time, bells will ring 49 times
to remember each of the victims, with a remembrance ceremony set for 7pm.
Survivors of
the Pulse nightclub massacre have called for gun law reform
Following a
number of mass shootings, including one at a school in Uvalde, Texas that left
19 children and two adults dead, calls for gun reform have become even louder
across the US.
The House of
Representatives voted in favour of a package of reforms on Wednesday (8 June),
however the measure is expected to fail in the Senate.
Survivors of
the shooting have for years used their voices to demand change, and many are
growing weary.
“I’ll believe
it when I see it because we have been screaming for this for mega years,”
Orlando Torres told MyNews13. “It’s a shame. Look what it had to
take the latest shootings. Innocent little children that were 9, 10 years old.”
Fellow
survivor Patience Murray shared her frustrations with The
Guardian, saying: “We’ve had so many survivors, so many families that
have been left behind and they tell their story. And they’re vulnerable,
pouring their hearts out to these leaders, and then nothing happens.”
Leonel
Melendez, 43, opened up about the long-lasting effects of that traumatic night
in an interview with the New York Post in 2021, as the world marked the
fifth anniversary of the shooting.
“I can’t hear
on my left side and I use a hearing aid… I lost some of my vision,” Melendez
said.
“I was pretty
much a miracle – but my recovery has been long and hard.”
He added:
“[Lawmakers] should make it so that not just anybody can own a gun. Gun control
needs to be more strict.
“You should
have to pass a background test and take a psychological test before you can own
a gun. There has to be a better way, it should be more controlled. If there was
more restriction on owning a gun this would have never happened.”
On the sixth
anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, we are sharing the names of those
who lost their lives to ensure that they are never forgotten.
Stanley Almodovar
III, 23
Amanda Alvear, 25
Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26
Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33
Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21
Martin Benitez Torres, 33
Antonio D Brown, 30
Darryl R Burt II, 29
Jonathan A Camuy Vega, 24
Angel L Candelario-Padro, 28
Simon A Carrillo Fernandez, 31
Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25
Luis D Conde, 39
Cory J Connell, 21
Tevin E Crosby, 25
Franky J Dejesus Velazquez, 50
Deonka D Drayton, 32
Mercedes M Flores, 26
Peter O Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
Juan R Guerrero, 22
Paul T Henry, 41
Frank Hernandez, 27
Miguel A Honorato, 30
Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40
Jason B Josaphat, 19
Eddie J Justice, 30
Anthony L Laureano Disla, 25
Christopher A Leinonen, 32
Brenda L Marquez McCool, 49
Jean C Mendez Perez, 35
Akyra Monet Murray, 18
Kimberly Morris, 37
Jean C Nieves Rodriguez, 27
Luis O Ocasio-Capo, 20
Geraldo A Ortiz-Jimenez, 25
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36
Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32
Enrique L Rios Jr, 25
Juan P Rivera Velazquez, 37
Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24
Christopher J Sanfeliz, 24
Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35
Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25
Edward Sotomayor Jr, 34
Shane E Tomlinson, 33
Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25
Luis S Vielma, 22
Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37
Jerald A Wright, 31
SOURCE: PINK NEWS
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