ORLANDO, Fla. — The coronavirus pandemic forced people to remember the 4th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting on Friday virtually. 

What You Need To Know

  • Pre-taped remembrance ceremony aired Friday

  • Can be viewed on onePULSE Foundation’s social media: YouTube, Facebook

A half-hour pre-produced remembrance ceremony premiered online Friday evening. It featured remarks from Pulse owner Barbara Poma, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, and other local leaders.

The ceremony also featured musical performances and the reading of names of the 49 who lost their lives in the mass shooting.

The ceremony is usually held at the Pulse interim memorial site. It shifted online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, some said they  had to come to the place where it happened.

“I feel the emotions while I’m here, I can see and feel - everyone that’s here – their emotions, as well,” said Savannah Allen.
“To be standing where it actually took place is, to have those emotions, it’s overwhelming to experience that, and you’re not going to get that virtually."

Social distancing measures were in place for those who visited the memorial.

The pre-taped remembrance ceremony can be found on onePULSE Foundation’s Facebook Page and YouTube channel.

The Orange County Regional History Center’s annual Pulse exhibit is also online-only.  

Chief Curator Pam Schwartz feels the online format offers new possibilities. “Where you might only plan a couple hours to come to the museum to see the exhibit, maybe now people will look at it, and then look at it again,” Schwartz explained. “And maybe look at it differently and then share it with a friend who they wouldn’t normally share it with.”

The exhibit is titled: The Stories They Could Tell. It showcases the dedications left at the various memorial sites after the nightclub shooting during the early morning hours of June 12, 2016.

Shooter Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 others during “Latin Night” at the gay nightclub. Mateen, who pledged his allegiance to ISIS when he called Spectrum News during the incident, was killed in a shootout with Orlando Police Department officers. The FBI called the shooting a terrorist attack.