On Wednesday night, Orlando officials say the Florida Department of Transportation painted over the rainbow-colored crosswalk leading to the former Pulse Nightclub, an LBGTQ+ venue where 49 people were gunned down in 2016.
The action offended people affected by the tragedy and outraged Orlando leaders.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer denounced the surprise erasure as "a cruel political act."
"I am angry and I'm hurt," said City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who spoke by phone from the site. She said a protest was planned there for 6 p.m. Thursday.
Democratic State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith was at the site, as well. He was seeing a lot of emotion there, a lot of anger, but also a lot of resolve.
"We will not be erased," he said. "There will be another rainbow mural on a building or a garage or a surface nearby that's even bigger, queerer and more colorful than they can ever imagine."
Smith believes FDOT did it at night in secret because they knew "what they did was wrong" and feared the resistance.
"This is a hostile political act against our city," he said. "It was a betrayal, a betrayal of the families and the survivors of this horrific tragedy. This crosswalk was built here to honor 49 people who were murdered."
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis reacted on X to comments from the senator. DeSantis said: "We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes."
FDOT has notified other Florida cities about rainbow-colored Pride crosswalks, saying they're out of compliance and must be removed. But Orlando officials said they got no warning from the state.
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