The city of Orlando commemorated yesterday the second anniversary of the death of 49 people in a terrorist massacre at the Gay Pulse nightclub with a mixture of art, music and prayers and in a rarefied environment for several judicial litigation.
Early in the morning, the state governor, Rick Scott, who also proclaimed the date as a “Memorial Day in Florida,” asked the community for a minute of silence for the victims, while in the capital, Tallahassee, the flag The state was hoisted at half mast as a sign of mourning.
Then, at noon, as part of the commemorative events, the bells of the First Methodist Church of Orlando doubled 49 times.
Throughout this day, the community participated in various “Acts of Love,” led by The One Orlando Alliance, a coalition of more than 30 LGBTQ organizations in Central Florida.
But not all the relatives of the victims attended the ceremony of One Pulse Foundation, a nonprofit organization created by Barbara Poma, owner of the Pulse Club, which she explains on her website was “established to create a sanctuary of hope. “, after the tragedy in his nightclub that occurred on June 12, 2016, when the 29-year-old Omar Mateen, a security guard of Afghan origin who declared his loyalty to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), shot in the face.
“I’m not going to do anything that Mrs. Poma does,” said Carmen Capó Quiñones, mother of Luis Omar Ocasio Capó, who died on the night of the massacre, where more than 50 people were injured.
“It’s been two years and it’s as if not a day has passed, the pain is worse now, because everyone left, we are alone with grief and loss, and nobody has paid for those deaths,” adds Capó between sobs. .
This mother said that although she did not participate in the activities, she did visit the transitory memorial erected in front of the nightclub in honor of the deceased.
“I went to see it, very nice, but nowhere I saw the photos of the 49 people, the 49 souls, the 49 angels who lost their lives in that club, they have organizations, activities, but not the victims,” ​​he added. consent.
And is that although the community today remembers their dead on a day called to unity, the day is also marked by pending lawsuits in federal and state courts, filed against the City and the Orlando Police, for allegedly not offering enough training to their police, and against the owners of the Pulse Club.
In the latest lawsuit, filed in Orange County Court just four days after the second anniversary of the massacre, they allege that Barbara Poma and Rosario Poma, the club’s owners, are “in some way responsible for the facts.
The complainants argue that Poma, through its employees, “did not take reasonable measures to prevent the club from entering the firearm”, while ignoring the security needs of the place.
“My son died bleeding, not because of the bullets,” says Capó, who is part of the lawsuit against the owners.
“The doors were closed with machinery (…), the place did not have enough security,” explains Capó.
“Everything has remained the same, nobody has paid these 49 lives, and my son, my son was an angel, a beautiful person whom I will never be able to see again, whom I cry every day, alone here in my house,” he said. Puerto Rican mother living in Kissimmee.
Efe tried to communicate with Barbara Poma, but has not received an answer about the lawsuit against her.
“What is important for Rosario and for me is that we continue to focus on remembering the 49 angels (…), the affected survivors and continuing to help our community to heal,” said Poma, however, in a statement published on Last Friday by the local newspaper Orlando Sentinel.
The airs charged by the lawsuits, however, do not tarnish the citizen unit, assures Efe the mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer.
“Orlando continues united to show love and kindness, today and every day, and supporting all those affected by the tragedy,” said Dyer.
The mayor closed the day of events with the mayor of Orange, Teresa Jacobs, with a large public ceremony in the center of the city.
Dyer said in a joint statement with Orlando Police that this municipality has not been formally summoned, so he declined to comment on the judicial process against him.
