In the early hours of June 12, 2016, an American born security guard named Omar Mir Seddique Mateen shot and killed 49 people and wounded an additional 53 at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Mateen, who swore allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), was shot and killed by the Orlando Police Department after a three-hour standoff. The incident was the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in United States history, the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since the September 11th attacks of 2001, and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in United States history. Most of the victims were Latino, as the club was hosting a Latin Night at the time of the massacre.

The City of Orlando’s response to the tragedy in the immediate aftermath and throughout the following year is documented in our Pulse Collection. To explore this collection, please visit: https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/collections/show/205.