ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 The State Attorney’s Office has decided not to press charges against any of the six people who were taken into custody for using chalk to restore the rainbow-colored crosswalk near the Pulse nightclub, State Attorney for the 9th Judicial District Monique Worrell said Friday.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The State Attorney’s Office won’t press charges against the people arrested after using chalk to color the crosswalk outside Pulse
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There was no precedent or case law for prosecutions for similar activities, State Attorney Monique Worrell said
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The state of Florida installed the original rainbow crosswalk and the Florida Department of Transportation approved it as part of a $9 million state-funded improvement project
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Worrell said her office could not prove actual property damage of $1,000 or more to charge those arrested with a third-degree felony for interference with an official traffic control device under the criminal mischief Florida statute
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After the decision was announced, James Houchins, one of the six people who had been arrested, went back to the crosswalk and re-chalked it.<\/p>\n
Her office has completed its investigation, which required two senior officers, two senior attorneys and more than 100 hours to complete because it was a very novel issue, Worrell said. There was no precedent and no one has ever been prosecuted for similar activities, so there was no case law that could guide its decision-making, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Worrell said a third-degree felony charge for interference with an official traffic control device under the criminal mischief Florida statute requires proof of actual property damage of $1,000 or more. Her office couldn\u2019t prove any damage at all because sidewalk chalk is water soluble and made to wash off outdoor surfaces, meaning it does not permanently alter, stain, or impair a surface, she said.<\/p>\n
She said the $1,700 that FDOT reported was spent in labor and equipment to clean the crosswalks was a cleaning operation, not a damage remediation because no record showed that the surface sustained any permanent harm. She said there also was no evidence that the barricade set up was damaged or stolen.<\/p>\n
“A government agency\u2019s election to send a cleanup crew does not establish that the surface was damaged.,” Worrell said. “Chalk that dissolves in Florida. Rain is not damaging under any interpretation of that statute.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the decision was announced, James Houchins, one of six people who were arrested, was back outside of the Pulse memorial site, re-chalking the crosswalk.<\/p>\n
\u201cA sigh of relief, but something that we knew from the beginning,” Houchins said. “You know, the crosswalk stands as a beacon of hope for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state of Florida installed the original rainbow crosswalk and the Florida Department of Transportation approved it as part of a $9 million state-funded improvement project, Worrell said. It was created near the former Pulse nightclub and met national safety standards, Worrell said.<\/p>\n
Orlando officials confirmed the multicolored crosswalk was installed according to FDOT rules and said its visibility, because of its colors, made it safer for the large number of pedestrians visiting the memorial that was created after the mass shooting that killed 49 people at the nightclub.<\/p>\n