Freshly Squeezed True Crime

#27, Pride / Pulse ... Part #3

• Suhailly Nieves • Season 1 • Episode 26

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SPEAKER_02

This is French Queen's True Crime, a Florida only True Crime podcast. I'm Sammy, and before we get to this week's juicy episode, I ask you to visit the website at fsccpodcast.com where you'll find all of our social media platforms as well as the newest episodes. And also find us on YouTube where we would like you to follow us, subscribe, share, and do all the things. So pour yourself a teleplass of orange juice and let me tell you a story.

SPEAKER_00

This is part three of the Pulse shooting. If you haven't heard parts one and two, please go back. On June 12, 2016, 29-year-old Omar Martin shot and killed 49 people and wounded 58 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Pulse was hosting a Latin night, and most of the victims were of Latino descent. In a 911 call made shortly after the shooting began, Martin swore allegiance to the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr El Baghdadi, and said the U.S. killing of Abu Wahim in Iraq the previous month triggered the shooting. He later told the negotiator he was, quote, out of here right now, end quote, because of the American-led interventions in Iraq and in Syria, and that the negotiators should tell the United States to stop the bombing. The incident was deemed a terrorist attack by the FBI investigators. Orlando police officers fatally shot Mateen after a three-hour standoff. The shooting was the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since September 11th attacks and the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history until the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. On June 11, 2016, Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was hosting Latin Night, a weekly Saturday night event drawing a primarily Latino crowd. RuPaul's drag race contestant and drag queen, Kenya Michaels, is recorded to have been performing right as the shooting began. Michaels survived the shooting. About 320 people were still inside the club, which was serving last call drinks at around 2 a.m. on June 12th. At around the same time, Omar Martin arrived at the club via Ventil van, parking it in the parking lot of a neighborhood car shop. He got out and walked towards the building armed with a six-hour MCX semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol. He was wearing a green, blue, and white plaid dress shirt, a white t-shirt underneath, and tan cargo pants. At 2 02 a.m., Matin bypassed officer Adam Gruuler, a uniformed off-duty Orlando police department officer working extra duty as a security guard and entered the building through the southern entrance and began shooting patrons. Dozens were killed or severely injured inside the crowded nightclub, either directly or by ricochets. Gruler took cover and called in a signal for assistance. He told a post-incident police foundation assessment team that he had immediately recognized that his handgun would be severely disadvantaged against the rifle Mateen was using. When he witnessed Mateen shooting two patrons attempting to escape through an emergency exit, Gruuler fired shots at him. In response, Mateen withdrew back into the nightclub and continued shooting victims as he traversed the building, sometimes firing into bodies without checking whether they were already dead. When additional officers arrived at the nightclub beginning at 2.04 AM, Gruuler shouted, The gunman's in the patio, and resumed firing at Mateen a minute later. Two officers joined Gruuler in engaging Mateen, who then retreated farther into the nightclub and quote, began a hostage situation. In one of the bathrooms, in less than five minutes, Mateen had approximately fired 200 rounds, pausing only to reload. During the shooting, some of the people trapped inside the club sought help by calling or sending text messages to family and relatives. Initially, some of them thought the gunshots were firecrackers or part of the music. Imran Yusuf, a recently discharged Marine Corps veteran working as a nightclub bouncer, immediately recognized the sounds as gunfire, which he described as quote high caliber. Yusuf then noticed a locked back door near where a group of people were hiding, all too paralyzed by fear to move to open it. He then ran to and unlatched the door behind them, allowing approximately 70 people to escape unharmed. Many described a scene of panic and confusion caused by the loud music and darkness. One person shielded herself by hiding inside a bathroom and covering herself with bodies. A bartender said she took cover beneath the glass bar. At least one patron tried to help those who were hit. According to a man trapped inside a bathroom with 15 other patrons, Mateen fired 16 times into the bathroom through the closed door, killing at least two and wounding several others. According to one of the hostages, Mateen entered a bathroom in the nightclub's northwest side and opened fire on the people hiding there, wounding several. The hostage, who had taken cover inside a stall with others, was injured by two bullets and struck with flying pieces of wall hit by stray bullets. Shortly after entering the woman's breastroom, Mateen's rifle jammed. He then discarded the rifle and switched to his Glock 17 pistol. Two survivors quoted Mateen as saying, I don't have a problem with black people, and that he wouldn't stop his assault until America stopped bombing his country. Other survivors heard Mateen claim he had explosives as well as sniper stations around the club. Patrons trapped inside called or texted 911 to warn of the possible presence of explosives. Over the next 45 minutes, about 100 officers from the Orange County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the scene. Among the earliest first responders to arrive were firefighter crew from Fire Station 5 and two supporting firefighter paramedics from Fire Station 7. 80 fire and emergency medical services personnel from the Orlando Fire Department were deployed during the entire incident. At 2.09 a.m., several minutes after the gunfire began, the club posted on its Facebook page, everyone get out of pulse and keep running. At 2 22 a.m., Matin placed a 911 call during which he mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers as his homeboys and made a reference to Manor Mohammed Abdusalah, an American citizen who died in a suicide bombing in Syria 2014. Matin said he was inspired by Abu Salah's death for the Al-Nushur Front targeting Saran's government troops, a mutual enemy of the two Southist groups despite their history of violence with each other, and swore allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Baghdadi. The FBI said that Mateen and Abu Salah had attended the same mosque and knew each other, quote, casually. Matin made two other 911 calls during the shooting. Numerous 911 calls were made by the patrons inside the nightclub around this time. After the initial rounds of gunfire between Mateen and Gruuler, six officers shot out a large glass window and followed the sound of shooting to the bathroom area. When Mateen struck his head out from one of the bathrooms, at least two officers shot at him. After the gunfire stopped, they were ordered to hold position instead of storming the bathroom. According to one of the officers, after about 15 to 20 minutes, SWAT arrived and had the officers withdrawn as the officers were, quote, not really in tactical gear. SWAT then took over the operation. When asked why the officers did not proceed to the bathroom and engaged Mateen, Orlando police chief John Mina said it was because Mateen went from an active shooter to a barricaded gunman and had hostages. He also noted, quote, if he had continued shooting, our officers would have gone there. At the time, the last shot by Mateen was fired between 2.10 a.m. and 218 a.m. Rescues of people trapped inside the nightclub commenced and continued throughout the night. Because so many people were lying on the dance floor, one rescuing officer demanded, quote, if you're alive, raise your hands. By 2.35 a.m., police had managed to extract nearly all of the injured from the nightclub. Those who remained included the hostages held by Mateen in the bathroom as well as a dozen people who were hiding inside the dressing room. At 2 45 a.m., Mateen called News 13 of Orlando and said, quote, I'm the shooter, it's me. I'm the shooter. He then said he was carrying out the shooting on the behalf of ISIS and began speaking rapidly in Arabic. Mateen also said the shooting was, quote, triggered by a US-led bombing strike in Iraq that killed Abu Wahib, an IS military commander, on May 6th. When speaking to the negotiator, he first told them that he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and then said, quote, you have to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq. They are killing a lot of innocent people. What am I to do here when my people are getting killed over there? In response to their earlier questions, he repeatedly demanded that US stop bombing in Iraq and Syria, quote, you have to tell the US government to stop bombing. They are killing too many children. They are killing too many women, okay? His anger was directed at Russia as well as the United States. When the negotiator asked about the immediate situation in Orlando, quote, tell me what's going on right now, Omar, Mateen again redirected the conversation to the ongoing situation in the Middle East. Quote, yo, the airstrike that killed Abu Wahid a few weeks ago? That's what triggered it, okay? Multiple reports named Abu Wahid, usually named Abu Wahid, and described him an ISIS leader formerly belonging to the Al-Qaeda and Iraq. Abu Wahid was killed in an airstrike on a vehicle on May 6, 2016, in Rupa. The strike also killed three other people whom the Pentagon claimed were also ISIS jihadists. Only transcripts were released. The audio was withheld. The U.S. Department of Justice initially released partial transcripts that omitted some details. They claimed that this was because they wanted to avoid providing a public platform for hateful propaganda. The press release did not specify that the entities that the propaganda message was directed against were the U.S. Air Force and Russian Air Force. Earlier versions specifically omitted the name of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and said speaking in another language, quote, in place of the Basma, in the name of God, the merciful, the beneficent, but these were included in a later update. A crisis negotiator was present as Matin was held up inside and holding hostages. Officers initially believed he was armed with a suspicious device that posed a threat, but it was later revealed to be a battery that fell out of an exit sign or a smoke detector. Police Hashis negotiators spoke with Mateen by telephone three times between 2 48 a.m. and 3 27 a.m. He claimed during one of the calls that he had bombs strapped to his body. He also claimed that he had a vehicle in the parking lot with enough explosives to take out city blocks. At 3 58 a.m., the Orange County Police Department publicly announced the shooting and confirmed multiple injuries. At 4 21 a.m., eight of the hostages escaped after police had removed an air conditioning wall unit from an exterior wall. At approximately 4.29 a.m., Matin told negotiators that he planned to strap explosive vests similar to those used in the November 2015 Paris attacks to four hostages. Strategically place them in different corners of the building and detonate them in 15 minutes. Orlando Police Department officers then decided to end the negotiations and prepare to blow their way in. At around 2 30 a.m., Mateen's wife, after receiving a call from her mother at approximately 2 a.m. asking where her husband was, sent a text message to Mateen asking where he was. Mateen texted back, asking her if she had seen the news. After she replied no, Mateen responded, I love you, babe. According to one source, she texted him back at one point saying that she loved him. She also called him several times during the standoff, but he did not answer. She found out about what was happening at 4 a.m. after the police told her to come out of the house with their hands up. A survivor of the shooting recalled Mateen saying he wanted the U.S. to stop bombing the country. The FBI said Mateen told a negotiator to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq, as that was why he was out here right now. During the siege, Mateen made internet searches on the shooting while police dispatched a tactical robot to discreetly enter the restroom and allow them to communicate with hostages via 2-8 audio. The FBI reported that no shots were heard between the time Mateen stopped exchanging gunfire with the first responders at 5.02 a.m. When Orlando police began breaching the walls. Just before the breach, Mateen entered a woman's bathroom where the hostages were hiding and opened fire, killing a man who sacrificed his life to save the woman behind him and at least one other, according to witnesses. At 5.05 a.m., the police said a bomb squad has set off a controlled explosive. At 5.07 a.m., 14 SWAT officers, after failing to blow open a big enough hole in the bathroom's exterior wall using a bomb due to the wall structure, successfully breached the building where a policeman drove a bearcat armored vehicle through the wall in the northern bathroom. They then used two flashbangs to distract Mateen and shot at him. The breach drew Mateen out into the hallway and at 5 14 a.m. he engaged the officers. He was shot eight times and killed in the resulting shootout, which involved at least 11 officers who fired 150 rounds. He was reported, quote, down at 5.17 a.m. His autopsy report revealed that he was not drunk during the shooting, and he was hit once in the head, three times in the torso, and four times in the legs. At 5 53 a.m., the Orlando police posted on Twitter, pulse shooting, the shooter inside the club is dead. 30 hostages were freed during the police operation. The survivors were searched by police for guns and explosives. 49 people died in the incident, plus Mateen, and another 58 were injured, 53 by gunfire, and five by other causes. Some survivors were critically injured. 39, including Mateen, were pronounced dead at the scene, and 11 at local hospitals. Of the 38 victims to die at the scene, 20 died on the stage area and dance floor. 9 in the nightclub's northern bathroom, 4 in the southern bathroom, 3 on the stage, and 1 at the front lobby, and 1 on the patio. At least 5 of the dead were not killed during the initial volley of gunfire by Mateen, but during the hostage situation in the bathroom. Pulse was hosting the Latin Knight, as previously stated. Over 90% of the victims were of Hispanic background, and half of those were of Puerto Rican descent. Four Dominican and three Mexican nationals were also among the dead. An off-duty United States Army Reserve captain at the club who was not in uniform was also killed. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting by single shooter in the U.S. history until the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. It was also the deadliest incident of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the United States history, surpassing the 1973 upstairs lounge arson attack and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since the September 11 attacks in 2001. The names and ages of the victims killed were confirmed by the city of Orlando after Nexofkin had been notified. Almavar Stanley III, 23, Alivar Amanda 25, Oscar A. Asena Montero 26, Rudolf Ala Allah 33, Alejandro Berros Martinez 21, Martin Bitis Torres 33, Antonio D. Brown 30, Daryl R. Bert II 29, Jonathan A. Kumi, Vega 24, Angel Caldero Padro 28, Simon A. Carrillo Fernandez 31, Juan Chavez Martinez 25, Louis D. Condi 39, Corey J. Connell 21, Tevin E. Crosby 25, Frankie J. De Jesus Velasquez 50, Denonc D. Drayton 32, Mercedes M Flores 26, Peter Gonzalez Cruz 22, Juan Guerrero 22, Paul Henry 41, Frank Hernandez 27, Miguel Honorado 30, Javier George Reyes 40, Jason B. Jazzap 19, Eddie Justice 30, Anthony Laredo Disla 25, Christopher Leonin 32, Brenda Marquez McCool 49, Jean Mendez Perez 35, Agria Monet Marie 18, Kimberly Morris 37, Jean Nieves Rodriguez 27, Luis Ocasio Capo 20, Geraldo Ortiz Jimenez 25, Eric Ivan Ortiz Rivera 36, Joel Paniguana 32, Enrique Rios Jr. 25, Juan Vivera Velasquez 37, Yomeri Rodriguez Silvan 24, Christopher Sanfelez 24, Xavier Serrano Rosada 35, Gilberto Silva Mendez 25, Edward Sotomayor Jr. 34, Shane Tomlinson 33, Leroy Valentine Fernandez 25, Louis Vilma 22, Louis Daniel Wilson Leon 37, Gerald Wright 31. Autopsies of the 49 dead were completed by the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office by June 14th, and the results were released in early August. According to the autopsy reports, many of the victims were shot multiple times in the front or the side and from a short distance. More than a third was shot in the head, and most had multiple bullet wounds and were likely shot more than three feet away. In total, there were more than 200 gunshot wounds. Many of the injured underwent surgery, most of them, 44 people, were taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, the primary regional trauma center, three blocks away. Twelve others went to Florida Hospital, Orlando. Nine of the Orlando Regional Medical Center's patients died there. And by June 14, 27 remained hospitalized, with six in critical condition. Orlando Regional Medical Center performed 76 surgeries on 35 patients. The last of the injured was discharged from ORMC or the Orlando Regional Medical Center on September the 6th, nearly three months after the shooting. Three Colombians and two Canadians were among the injured. Additionally, a responding SWAT officer received a minor head injury when a bullet hit his Kevlar helmet. Security camera video footage was recovered from the nightclub as part of the investigation, with a censored version later publicly released during the trial of Mateen's wife. Facebook activated its safety check feature in the Orlando area following the shooting, allowing users to mark themselves as safe to notify family and Friends, the first use of the feature in the United States. Following the shooting, many of the business venues in the United States, such as shopping malls, movie theaters, bars, and concert halls, re-examined their security protocols. Also, police forces across the country announced plans to increase security at LGBTQ landmarks such as Stonewall Inn and at Pride Month events including Pride parades. Sadiq Matin released a Dari language video statement via Facebook on June 13 to speak about his son's actions. On the day of the attack, the Islamic State had released a statement via AMEC news agency taking responsibility for the attack. On June 13, a broadcast from Iraqi Islamic State radio station Al-Bayan said Matin was, quote, one of the soldiers of the cellophyte in America, without indicating any foreknowledge of the shooting. On September 10th, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services find G4S Secure Solutions $151 for providing inaccurate psychological testing information on more than 1,500 forms over a 10-year period, which allowed employees to carry firearms. Matine's form was amongst those investigated. On November the 4th, it was reported that the Orlando Police Department was upgrading its equipment for officers following the shooting, since officers at the nightclub were not well equipped for the event and therefore endangered. The upgraded equipment included ballistic helmets and heavier ballistic vests. Following the shooting, a vehicle ramming attack and mass stabbing at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, a new federal initiative was launched, partially in response to at least one victim bleeding to death inside pulse during the shooting. The initiative was designed to train people working at schools and other public places on how to treat injuries before paramedics arrive at the scene. Doctors have emphasized the importance for school faculty members to stay calm and assess injuries, but also discourage the use of more invasive emergency procedures such as removing a bullet. The OVA, through its victim assistance rapid deployment team and crisis response canines, also provided help to responders of the shooting in the days following June 12. Immediately after the shooting, many people lined up to donate blood at local blood donation centers and blood mobile locations when One Blood, a regional blood donation agency, urged people to donate. The surge in blood donations and the fact that the shooting occurred in a gay nightclub spotlighted the Food and Drug Administration's controversial federal policy that forbids men who have sex with men in the past year from donating blood. Despite expressions of frustration and disapproval by a number of gay and bisexual men and LGBTQ activists across the country and a group of democratic lawmakers urging the ban to be lifted, the FDA stated on June 14th that it had no plans to change the regulation and will reevaluate its policies, quote, as new scientific information becomes available. A Victims Assistance Center, Orlando Family Assistance Center, was opened on June 15th inside Camping World Stadium by the City of Orlando. During the eight days it was open, it provided help to 956 people from 298 families. Those remaining were then directed to the newly opened Orlando United Assistance Center, jointly set up by the city of Orange County, which, according to the mayor of Orlando, quote, will stay open as long as there is a need. The two hospitals that treated Pulse victims, Orlando Regional Medical Center and Florida Hospital, announced in late August that they will not be billing the survivors or pursuing reimbursement. The City of Orlando offered free plots and funeral services at the city-owned Greenwood Cemetery for those killed in the shooting. Equality Florida, the state's largest LGBTQ rights group, started a fundraising page to aid the victims and their families, raising $667,000 in the first nine hours. As of September 22nd, 2016, they have raised over $7.85 million online, a record for GoFundMe, with over 119,000 donors and an average of $66 per donation. Another fundraising campaign, One Orlando, was established by Mayor Buddy Dyer. The Walt Disney Company and BC Universal, which operate the nearby Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort, respectively each donated $1 million to the funds. As of August 12th, One Orlando had raised $23 million with a draft proposal to start payouts starting September 27th on a rolling basis in which the highest compensations will go to the families of the 49 people killed, followed by the 50 victims who were physically injured and hospitalized for one night or more. One Orlando's Fund administrator said that the draft was not decided whether to pay people who were held hostage but were not injured and will take public feedback in two 90-minute hearings that were held on August the 4th. A timeline of the draft proposal was released. On August 11th, its board of directors decided that the funds would only be dispersed to the quote families of the dead, survivors who were hospitalized, survivors who sought outpatient medical treatment, and those who were present in the club when the shootings began, but not physically injured, and that family members and survivors can start claiming until the September 12th deadline. As of December 1st of that year, One Orlando had paid out over $27,299 recipients, according to officials, with six more claims worth an additional $2.1 million still being contested amongst family members of the slain victims. IDW Publishing and DC Entertainment created Love is Love, a graphic novel sold to raise money for the victims. The novel became a New York Times bestseller, and more than $165,000 were raised through Equality Florida. The proceeds were donated to one Orlando fund. A total of 603 calls to 911 were made by victims, family members, and friends of victims, bystanders, and rescue workers during the entire shooting. On June 14, two dozen news agencies sent a four-page letter to Orlando City Attorney jointly demanding the release of recordings that 911 callers made on the night of the shooting. The letter also contained a request for scanner and dispatch recordings. The Orlando police refused to release the recordings, citing an ongoing investigation. On June 20th, the FBI released a transcript of the first call by the shooter and a summary of the three calls with police negotiators. On July 14th, the University of Central Florida's police department released nine body camera videos of UCFPD officers who rushed to Pulse to help Orlando police officers during the incident. On July 18th, the City of Orlando released a detailed 71-page document of Orlando Police Department's officers' accounts and responses to the shooting. Requests to release recordings of the 911 calls, police radio transmissions, and the exchanges between law enforcement and the team were denied, citing disagreements over whether they fall under local or federal jurisdiction. The status on the authority over the recordings was pending a court ruling. On July 20th, the Orange County Sheriff's Office released video footage from a body camera worn by one of its deputies during the incident. On July 26th, the Orange County Fire Rescue released a recording of a 911 call made during the shooting. On July 29th, the OCSO released dozens of pages of documents detailing the deputies' individual accounts of their involvement in the shooting. On August 30, the OCSO released the 911 calls it received during the shooting. Two days later, the OPD and the City of Orlando released nine of their hundreds of 911 calls, which were all made by friends and relatives outside of Polts during the incident. The rest are locked in a legal dispute between 24 media groups, OPD and the City of Orlando. On September 14th, the City of Orlando released 23 additional 911 calls made during the shooting. These included calls made from rescue workers advising preparedness for dozens of victims, a patron who escaped from pulse with a friend who was shot, and the brother of a woman who was shot several times and trapped inside a bathroom in the nightclub. On October 31st, the city of Orlando released nearly 30 minutes of recordings of police negotiators talking with Mateen during the course of the shooting. After a judge with the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida ruled that these calls should be made public, a total of 232 other calls were still being withheld by the city. On November 10th, the Orange County Sheriff's Office released about two dozen videos of the body camera footage of officers at the perimeter of the nightclub during the shooting. The footage, which was heavily censored, depicted officers conducting searches of bathrooms in the nightclub and tending to survivors. On November the 14th, the city of Orlando released 36 police audio recordings made during the shooting, which record officers' attempts to contact Mateen. Their remarks on his serious, unruffled attitude and their conversations about how to respond to the hostage situation. Also released that day was an additional 911 call made by a woman who made it out of the nightclub with her sister who was shot. The next day, on November 15th, 21 additional 911 calls were released. This was followed by three additional hours of 911 calls released on November 16th. In many of these calls, people trapped inside the bathrooms, kitchens, and upstair offices were questioning why police had yet to enter the nightclub. Two days later, on November 18th, 107 pages of the transcripts of more than 391 calls were released. These calls were made during the first 10 minutes of the shooting and had to be released in the form of transcripts after a judge deemed them too graphic to be released as audio recordings. According to the city spokesperson, all 911 calls were made during the shooting have now been released to the public. On September 14, 2016, the City of Orlando announced it would pay $4,518 to erect a new fence around the Pulse Nightclub on September 19. The fence would feature a commemorative screen wrap with local artwork that would serve as a memorial to the victims and survivors of the shooting. It will also be smaller than the nightclub's previous fence in order to allow for more efficient navigation by passerbys. In November, the city of Orlando announced its plans to purchase the Pulse Nightclub later that month for $2.25 million and turn the site into a memorial for the victims and survivors of the shooting. The announcement was met with praise from Orlando's LGBTQ community. The vote was postponed with the city explaining that more time was needed to plan a future memorial and that there was some discomfort from city officials over having to pay such an amount of money. In December 2016, the owner declined to sell the nightclub to the city due to emotional attachment. The owner then created the Once Pulse Foundation and in May 2017 announced plans for a memorial site and museum originally slated to open in 2022. In late October 2023, one Pulse's plans for the memorial and museum were permanently suspended. The city of Orlando approved the purchase of the site to convert the temporary memorial into a permanent one. In December 2023, Mayor Buddy Dyer announced an approach in which the city will utilize the existing 501c3 and establish the Orlando United Pulse Memorial Fund in an effort to raise funds for the permanent memorial. The fund had hoped to raise funds from community donations such as local businesses, community organizations, and individuals. On March 16, 2026, the iconic pulse sign was removed on March 11, 2026 for storage and potential inclusion in the new memorial. March 18, 2026, Orlando, Florida. Crews began demolishing Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida to make way for a memorial that will pay tribute to the 49 people killed in the attack at the LGBTQ friendly club nearly a decade ago. Construction workers began tearing down walls in the long shuttered venue that's still scarred by bullet holes from a June 12, 2016 attack, when a gunman opened fire during a Latin night celebration, killing the dozens and wounding 53 others. The city of Orlando purchased the polls' property in 2023 for $2 million and plans to build a $12 million permanent memorial that will open in 2027. Those efforts, followed by a botched multi-year attempt by a foundation run by the club's former owner to buy the property. The plan for the memorial comes at a fraught time for monuments to LGBTQ history since President Donald Trump's second term began. The federal government removed a pride flag outside of Stonewall National Monument last year, following a National Park Service memo that prohibits the agency from flying any flags besides a U.S. flag and the flag of the Department of the Interior. A similar battle played out in Orlando last year when local officials clashed with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis because workers painted over a rainbow mural on the crosswalk in front of Polts. The move came after Florida Department of Transportation issued a memo that prohibited, quote, surface art associated with quote social, political, or ideological messages or images, and does not serve the purpose of traffic control. The new memorial, designed with input from survivors and victims' families, will include a reflection pool, a water wall featuring the names of the 49 victims in English and Spanish, and a healing garden. We at Freshly Squeeze True Crime believe in all rights to all humans. Happy Pride Mont.

SPEAKER_01

This episode was squeeze to perfection. Freshly Squeeze is hosted and written by me, Mr. Haley, an executive produced by Ebony. So thirsty and need more, visit us at fstcpodcast.com for links to all our social media handles, including YouTube. Make a donation by buying us a glass. And as always, cheers.