Orlando and St. Petersburg, Fla., on Friday commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. The attack killed 49 people and injured more than 50 at the gay nightclub on June 12, 2016. The shooter, Omar Seddique Mateen, 29, was killed on the scene after a standoff. Mateen called 911 before the shooting and aligned himself with the Islamic State.
In Orlando, City Hall opened an exhibit at 9 a.m. EDT displaying portraits of all 49 victims. The portraits, originally part of a traveling memorial, were drawn by a local artist. Family members and volunteers filled in the color using paint-by-number kits, using only shades of black, white and gray, according to city officials. More than 1,000 people contributed to the paintings, and some were intentionally left incomplete by family members.
The city held an official remembrance ceremony at First United Methodist Church, featuring musical performances and a candlelight ceremony in which the names of the victims were read. An evening event, Pulse 10: El Baquiné for the Angels, took place at Spirit of Joy Church, with remarks by former Rep. Gabby Giffords, a gun-safety advocate who was shot in the head in 2011 at a campaign event.
In St. Petersburg, the community gathered at 2 p.m. at Central Avenue and 25th Street, the location of the former site of the Progressive Rainbow Street Mural. The mural was painted over last summer by the state but remains an important site to the local gay community.
“This impacted the entire country, the gay community, the LGBTQIA community, their friends, their allies, and people who love and support them,” Rob Hall, who plans to attend the ceremony, told Spectrum News 9 in St. Petersburg. “We want to show up and recognize them and carry on that love and support forever.”
Gabe Alvez, another attendee, said the anniversary also serves as a reminder to remain vigilant. “I think more than ever there’s this worry and this threat of what is going to happen next,” Alvez said. “Bringing awareness that we have to be on alert and recognize situations that can bring great harm to our community is important.”