Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
MIAMI – Pulse shooting survivor Ricardo Negrón says he will be away from the activities carried out by the Orlando (Florida, Florida, USA) to remember . who were gunned down five years ago, because “the emotional charge is too great.”
Today we remember the 49 Angels, honor the survivors and the brave first responders and trauma teams who sacrificed so much to save so many. Please watch the Five-Year Remembrance at 7 pm EST on our YouTube Channel. https://t.co/WiwwTPceEJ # Pulse5YearsLater # Press5YearsLater pic.twitter.com/ wX7HukvQnY
– Pulse Orlando (@pulseorlando)
June 12, 2021
The Puerto Rican of 32 commented that he “had the fortune” of being able to escape from the armed attack perpetrated the 12 June 2016 by Afghan American Omar Mateen, who broke into the bar shooting with a assault rifle and an automatic pistol in the middle of a Latino party.
The survivor, one of the founders of an organization that helps educate the Puerto Ricans from the LGBT community in Orlando, explains that the proximity of the 12 June is very difficult for the survivors and relatives of the victims, many of them Puerto Rican.
Rejects the use of the word “anniversary” in front of the people “shocked” like him, and he avoids saying “shooting.”
“The most I remember is the sound of gunfire, the sound of people screaming and scared. That’s what you never forget, ”he says.
Mateen, who was discharged by the authorities that same night, kept for about three hours to thirty hostages while negotiating by phone with the police, which he said he was acting on behalf of the terrorist group Islamic State.
Press will be National Monument
President Joe Biden today recalled the tragedy by noting that a place of acceptance and joy turned that day into one of pain and loss in the midst of LGBT pride month.
Biden also announced that in the “next few days” he will sign a law passed by both houses of Congress to convert the bar Click on a “national monument.”
He noted in a statement that of that form will enshrine “in law what has been true since that terrible day five years ago: the Pulse nightclub is sacred ground.”
Regarding the monument, Negrón points out that it is of utmost importance not only to educate future generations about what happened in Orlando, but also to promote “respect and tolerance for the LGBT community.”
That purpose has centered the activities during the last week in Orlando, which have included walks, forums, artistic presentations and even an event in which eight heterosexual men dressed as “drag queen” to get out of their comfort zone and get closer to the LGBT community.
For the fifth time the names of the 49 victims and there will also be 49 seconds of silence in his honor, as well as 49 bells ringing in various churches in the country .
Like last year, this Saturday Governor Ron DeSantis ordered to recognize Set June 13 June as a day to remember to those sacrificed in Pulse, observe a minute of silence and hoist the flag at half mast in their honor.
“Florida honors the memory of those who were murdered in one of the darkest days in Florida’s history, “he said today on his Twitter account.
Victims without mental help
However, the LGBTQ + community is unhappy with the reduction in resources for the Pulse survivor assistance programs, ordered by DeSantis just as DeSantis’ pride month is celebrated.
Negrón said that it is “super disappointing and insulting” that a week before the five years of the tragedy the Governor decided to eliminate “funds that were going to directly help the people who were impacted by this.”
“It is a per sounds extremely cruel in attacking the community it is already trying to heal, for which these days are extremely difficult, whenever a 12 June ”, he underlines.
DeSantis removed from the budget about $ 900, 000 dollars to serve the LGBTQ + community, including funds for mental help to the survivors of the shooting, which he also left 53 injured.
“The community should use what happened recently with the governor to understand why an LGTB pride month is celebrated and why it is that we continue to fight to obtain the resources and equality that the community deserves ”, asserts Negrón.
Unlike last year, when the events were virtual, tonight a group, although reduced, of survivors and family members will meet in Pulse.
Similarly, the exhibition “Community: Five Years After the Pulse Tragedy” will remain open until tomorrow Sunday, which shows a series of artifacts that tell the story of the Pulse nightclub and its tragedy.
“Although the 49 angels we lost that night miss each other every day, we must continue to work to honor their spirits and maintain his living legacy, ”Congressman Darren Soto declared today.
The Democrat, of Puerto Rican origin and representing the district where the shooting occurred, assured today that five years later the pain is still “present ”.
By Ivonne Malaver