Residents and officials in Orlando are expressing outrage and disappointment after a rainbow crosswalk painted in tribute to the 49 people killed during the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting was painted over after a mandate by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
According to AP News, state transportation officials painted the crosswalk black in the middle of the night last Wednesday with no prior warning. “They did this in the middle of the night because they were scared of the resistance because they know what they did was wrong,” State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an openly gay Democrat representing Orlando, told AP. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer called the removal of the rainbow crosswalk a “callous” and “cruel political act.”
“This crosswalk not only enhanced safety and visibility for the large number of pedestrians visiting the memorial, it also served as a visual reminder of Orlando’s commitment to honor the 49 lives taken,” Dyer told AP…