Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, following a directive from US President Donald Trump's administration, painted over a rainbow crosswalk in Orlando that for years had served as a memorial to the victims of the 2016 massacre at Pulse, a local LGBTQ+ nightclub.
As reported by local news station WESH, the removal of the rainbow display came in response to a directive from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who sent a notice to governors last month that crosswalks should be free of potential distractions for drivers such as political messages.
The removal of the memorial was immediately denounced by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who slammed the move as "cruel."
"We are devastated to learn that overnight the state painted over the Pulse Memorial crosswalk on Orange Avenue," he said. "This callous action of hastily removing part of a memorial to what was at the time our nation's largest mass shooting, without any supporting safety data, or discussion, is a cruel political act."
Democratic Florida state Sen. Lori Berman offered a similarly scathing statement about the removal of the crosswalk, which she pointed out was originally approved by the administration of former Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who is now serving as one of Florida's US senators.
"The rainbow crosswalk at Pulse was a tribute, not a political statement—and a tribute authorized by a Republican administration, at that," she said. "It was specifically designed to enhance pedestrian safety for people paying their respects. Removing that crosswalk was a mean-spirited attempt to demoralize the LGBTQ+ community and an insult to the 49 people who lost their lives there nearly a decade ago."
DeSantis defended the crosswalk's removal, claiming the rainbow signified that Florida's roads had been "commandeered for political purposes."
However, within hours of the rainbow crosswalk's removal, local residents took matters into their own hands and painted it back, resulting in cheers from onlookers and appreciative honks from passing drivers.
The memorial paid tribute to the 49 people who were killed on June 12, 2016, when a 29-year-old man named Omar Mateen barged into the club and began opening fire on patrons.
During the massacre, Mateen placed a call to 911 in which he said that he had pledged his allegiance to the terrorist organization Islamic State. He later told a law enforcement negotiator that his killing spree was being done in reaction to American military intervention in Iraq and Syria.
Shortly after this, Mateen was killed in a shootout with local police.
