Florida officials on Sunday painted over the rainbow-decorated sidewalk near the site of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub mass shooting — for a second time in the past week, reports say.
Supporters had attempted to restore the rainbow hues to the sidewalk with colored paint before the Florida Department of Transportation again repainted it black and white, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The Florida Highway Patrol and Orlando Police Department were at the scene Sunday morning surveilling those who were using chalk on the rainbow crosswalk in what advocates called an “intimidation tactic.”
The crosswalk, located at Esther Street at South Orange Avenue, was a memorial to the 49 people killed in the mass shooting at the gay nightclub.
READ MORE: Florida’s rainbow crosswalks are being painted over. Miami Beach could be next
FDOT has ordered local governments to remove pavement art “associated with social, political, or ideological messages” or risk losing state funding.
They even sent letters to Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach and Key West warning that the state may withhold funding if they don’t comply.
Neither FDOT nor FHP responded to the Miami Herald’s request for comment as of Sunday evening.
“Memorials like these are not just symbols; they are a vital part of the healing process for a community that has experienced unimaginable loss,” said the Uvalde Foundation For Kids, a nonprofit established after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in a statement. “Erasing them is an act of disrespect to the memory of those who were senselessly murdered and a blatant disregard for the pain of their loved ones.”
Miami Herald staff writer Amanda Rosa contributed to this report.
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