ORLANDO, Fla. — A man visiting Orlando from Georgia was arrested at the Pulse crosswalk Friday night around 9 p.m., according to witnesses.
29-year-old Sebastian Suarez was celebrating his birthday at a restaurant nearby, his girlfriend, Madison Obregon, told Channel 9. “We were here for dinner,” she said, adding that the arrest “happened fast.”
Video provided to Channel 9 shows Suarez being taken into custody. “He started coloring in the bottom of his shoe. And they swarmed him, detained him, and put him in the car,” Obregon said.
The Florida Highway Patrol arrested Suarez for defacing a traffic device. Earlier in the day, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) had posted new signs warning demonstrators at the crosswalk.
Legal analyst Bill Sheaffer told Channel 9 such cases might be difficult for prosecutors to prove. “You have to have intent to damage the property. What is the damage?” Sheaffer said. “That is a far, far stretch in this, I believe, the state’s weakest argument of all.”
Earlier on Friday, FDOT had released a statement saying in part, “Vandalizing state property and/or disrupting traffic in any way is unsafe and illegal. These illegal actions will not be tolerated and will be fully enforced by law enforcement.”
Protesters said they plan to return to the crosswalk Saturday at 10 a.m.
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