Today, June 12th, marks the anniversary of the terror attack at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub,. It had been a year since the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history stole 49 lives there and scarred countless others. For 12 years, the club grew into an integral space for the gay community, one shattered within a matter of minutes by a terrorist with a gun.
At 2:02 a.m., this morning at they exact the time on June 12th, 2016 when the attack began, the names of those killed in the shooting were read aloud, with the family members of some victims on hand to say their names, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The nightclub also held a private ceremony for family members while mourners – including dozens of people dressed as “angels” – stood outside. By the end of the night, more than 1,000 people had gathered to remember what happened last June, when Orlando became the first U.S. city of the summer — before Falcon Heights, Minn., and Baton Rouge and Dallas — to be upended by gun violence.
An event called Orlando Love: Remembering Our Angels is also set for the Lake Eola Park Amphitheater at 7 p.m. and will feature musical performances and remarks by community leaders.
Please take a moment to remember the victims and morn the loos of our brothers and sisters.
Of the four times Muslims have tried to mass murder gays in the U.S., this was sadly the only one that really wasn’t foiled.