Thousands cheered and hollered in gratitude for their local police-true heroes in the face of this tragedy. Sporadically the crowd erupted into applause at key moments-when Pulse staffers said they would not be intimidated, when survivors of the Mother Emmanuel church shooting prayed with the local LGBT community in solidarity.īut the biggest round of applause came when Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer thanked the police and first-responders for their life-savings efforts during the shooting that killed so many in the LGBT community. The vigil included local and national politicians, activists, and faith leaders. On Monday, June 13, I stood at the head of almost 8,000 people to mourn the loss of the 49 victims of the Pulse shooting in Orlando.
