The city of Orlando, Florida is buying the Pulse nightclub where a 2016 shooting took place. The city will pay $2 million to the venue and turn it into a memorial.
The Pulse nightclub shooting became the poster child for homophobia after a shooter opened fire on a packed nightclub known for its gay clientele. Only the shooting had nothing to do with homophobia.
The shooter, Omar Mateen, was of Afghan heritage and told hostages that his motive was to stop the U.S. from bombing his country. He wanted the U.S. to “stop bombing Syria and Iraq” and “killing a lot of innocent people.”
Further, Orlando police waited outside the club for hours as people inside bled to death and when cops finally breached the wall, they opened fire and killed civilians too. No one was ever held accountable.
Why did he choose a gay club? He said that he originally set his sights on Disney World but figured that their security was too tight. I don’t even want to consider how awful that would have been!
The government and the media never gave us the truth about this awful story. They used it to their advantage to preach about homophobia and gun laws while ignoring the truth about extremists seeking vengeance for U.S. war crimes. Will Orlando’s memorial tell this story? And if they don’t, do they honor any of the dead with their story?
