Latin party to commemorate 8 years since the Club Pulse massacre in Orlando

Orlando Remembers the 49 Victims of the 2016 Pulse Massacre

Latin Party Held at Club Pulse

49 Bells Rang

On June 12, the city of Orlando, Florida, marks the eighth anniversary of the deaths of 49 people in a shooting during a Latin party at the Pulse gay nightclub.

Several ceremonies were held, attended by commissioners, family members of the victims, survivors, first responders, and residents.

As with every year, the evening of June 12 serves as a time to «honor and remember the 49 angels who departed.»

As well as «their family members, the survivors, trauma teams, and all those affected by the Pulse tragedy,» the Orlando City Hall stated in a press release.

Eight Years Since the Pulse Massacre

The official remembrance ceremony was preceded by the tolling of 49 bells at the city’s First United Methodist Church.

This was in memory of those who died in the attack, predominantly Puerto Ricans, which is considered the bloodiest act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in the United States and worldwide.

In addition to the 49 fatalities, there were 53 injured.

Flags across the state were flown at half-mast on Wednesday by order of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis recalled that on June 12, 2016, «a shooter claiming to be allied with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant committed a horrific act of terrorism against the LGBTQ and Hispanic communities at the Pulse nightclub.»

The commemoration of the tragic event began early in the morning with prayers.

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Additionally, a ceremony featured 8 people with angel wings standing in front of the memorial wall of the former Pulse nightclub.

Each represented a year that has passed since the attack, reported by Orlando’s Wesh2 channel.

Many attendees at the event spent time looking at the photographs and messages left for the 49 deceased victims.

Among those who attended this morning ceremony were family members and survivors.

Among them was Jorshua Hernández, who was shot twice and had to hide in a bathroom for three hours during the attack.

«It’s horrible. That day I was on the ground for three hours,» Hernández told the aforementioned outlet, adding that it felt as if the attack had occurred just yesterday.

Hours of Distress During the Shooting


The city of Orlando now owns the site of the nightclub, and Mayor Buddy Dyer has promised to build a permanent monument to mark this date in 2026.

Omar Mateen, the Afghan-origin security guard armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a Glock pistol, turned the nightclub’s Latin night into a nightmare.

Mateen barricaded himself in the nightclub with numerous hostages after shooting the attendees.

The shooter was killed by shots from the special police forces who entered the club several hours later.

During the time he was inside Pulse, he made several calls to the emergency number 911, and in one of them, he claimed to be a militant of the Islamic State (IS), something he also wrote on his Facebook before the massacre.

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