Man caught on camera setting fire to Pulse nightclub memorial
‘We’ve come through the flames of hell before. They still can’t silence us,’ says a survivor of the 2016 mass shooting
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Police in Orlando, Florida, are searching for a man who was caught on CCTV cameras setting the Pulse nightclub memorial on fire.
The onePULSE Foundation released footage of the 12 October attack, and said that a part of the memorial had been destroyed.
Footage shows a man in a wheelchair moving toward the memorial wall at about 8.30pm that evening, and setting it on fire before moving off.
No more information was available and police in Orlando, as well as the onePULSE Foundation, are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.
“Three Angel banners were burned along with other items within the affected area,” said the foundation, who posted on social media with the hashtag “#WeWillNotLetHateWin”.
The memorial has been outside the Pulse nightclub for more than five years, and was created following the shooting that unfolded there on 12 June 2016.
The attack is among the deadliest shootings in US history, and the deadliest commute against LGBTQ+ people in the US, according to GAYTIMES.
A total of 49 people lost their lives during the shooting and dozens more were injured.
OnePULSE added that they were working with families and friends of those whose banners were damaged on 12 October to restore them.
The memorial will ultimately be replaced by a permanent memorial and museum, which has had the backing of US President Joe Biden, who designated the location a National Memorial during this year’s Pride Month.
On Twitter, dozens of LGBTQ+ people called for justice and condemned the attack — including a survivor of the shooting, Brandon Wolf.
“Just finished surveying the damage after a hateful coward set fire to the Pulse Memorial,” Mr Wold wrote.
“But you know what? We’ll just put up newer, bigger, brighter ones,” the survivor told his followers. “We’ve come through the flames of hell before. They still can’t silence us.”