A vigil brought people together to honor victims, support survivors and reflect on the tragedy that killed 49 people and wounded 58 others on June 12, 2016. <\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Ten years after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, members of the Jacksonville community gathered at Willowbranch Park to remember the 49 lives lost in one of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history, and an attack on the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n
A candlelight vigil brought people together to honor victims, support survivors and reflect on the 2016 tragedy that also left 58 others wounded.<\/p>\n
Names were read aloud one by one during the ceremony, echoing through the park as attendees stood in reflection.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the 49 souls whose love remains on this side and still dances fondly upon us. We speak their names; we speak their names,\u201d Councilmember Rahman Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Daniel Hutton, president of the AIDS Memorial Project of Northeast Florida, said the impact of the tragedy continues to be felt a decade later.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur country was never the same afterwards,\u201d Hutton said.<\/p>\n
The attack occurred when a gunman opened fire inside the LGBTQ+ Orlando nightclub,\u00a0<\/p>\n
At Friday’s vigil, candles were lit as community members and leaders shared messages of remembrance, unity and resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat day affected many of us and still does,\u201d said James Eddy, an organizer with the AIDS Memorial Project.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach name is not just a name, it\u2019s a family,\u201d Eddy said, adding that many attendees did not personally know the victims but gathered to ensure they are never forgotten.<\/p>\n
Community advocate Katie Hathaway said the vigil carried a message of hope for future generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a mom, I want every child to grow up knowing love is stronger than hate,\u201d Hathaway said.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville City Councilmember Rahman Johnson also attended the vigil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHate may have taken lives, but hate cannot take love. It took bodies, but it cannot take memories,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As candles were held high, attendees stood together in a shared moment of silence, honoring the victims and survivors and reflecting on the lasting impact of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
A park bench in Willowbranch Park honors Darryl \u201cDJ\u201d Roman Burt II, a Pulse victim who called Jacksonville home. Organizers say a plaque will soon be added beside the bench to create a permanent place of remembrance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vigil brought people together to honor victims, support survivors and reflect on the tragedy that killed 49…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-306145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}