City of Orlando Lied, Hid Pulse Photos of Blocked Door from Public for 9 Years<\/a><\/p>\n PULSE Survivors Call Out The City of Orlando<\/a><\/p>\n City of Orlando, Mayor Buddy Dyer Exposed for Pulse Scandals<\/a><\/p>\n Is City of Orlando Obstructing Justice by Preventing Pulse Building Inspection?<\/a><\/p>\n The City of Orlando and Mayor Buddy Dyer simply can\u2019t be trusted with the narrative of this devastating tragedy. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer refused to step down from his role on the defunct and corrupt OnePULSE Foundation Chairman\u2019s Ambassador\u2019s Council despite calls from a community coalition that said there were clear conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n Buddy Dyer\u2019s city government allowed Pulse to operate as a death trap<\/a>. Illegal, unpermitted renovations completed at Pulse left patrons trapped inside the building, obstructed their escape to safety, and caused additional injury, according to Pulse Families and Survivors for Justice. Dyer\u2019s Chief of Staff Heather Fagan<\/a> and his official spokesperson Ashley Papagni<\/a> lied for years and prevented the truth from coming out. Dyer\u2019s City Clerk\u2019s office under Stephanie Herdocia and now-deptuy clerk Danielle Abdul-Nabi hid records, prevented their release and even attempted to charge Pulse advocates hundreds of thousands of dollars for public records \u2013 yes, hundreds of thousands of dollars. All involved should resign in shame.<\/p>\n Pulse survivor Jorshua N. Hern\u00e1ndez Carri\u00f3n sent these questions directly Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Chief of Staff Heather Fagan, Public Information Manager Ashley Papagni, and Commissioner Patty Sheehan \u2013 but he only received an empty response from Fagan with no answers, nor any offer of help to find the answers:<\/p>\n The City has the answers to these questions. Only the City can provide those answers to us. We desperately need closure on these issues pertaining to the City. Please, don\u2019t let us go another year without providing us answers to these questions:<\/p>\n Building Inspections: When was the last time the PULSE had a building inspection by the City? Not an exit check or Fire Department inspection, but a full building inspection? We know that the City called off the inspection that was to be done by Fire Marshal Tammy Hughes, specifically to document code violations. Who made the decision to not inspect PULSE and to call this inspection off?<\/p>\n Why did the City, after it purchased the building and before the 2025 site visits, not allow victim advocates to pay for an independent building inspection for us to have proper documentation?<\/p>\n OPD Investigation: When the Orlando Police Department conducted its involuntary manslaughter investigation into the Pomas for the unpermitted renovations and code violations at PULSE, why did they not record its interviews with city staff? They recorded interviews with survivors\/families. <\/p>\n What questions were asked? <\/p>\n If there are no recordings, are there transcripts of those interviews?<\/p>\n Since the Pomas employed OPD officers for years and had a close relationship with the City, even having a BBQ restaurant inside City Hall and working directly with the City\u2019s former Chief Protocol Officer Earl Crittenden as Chairman of the onePULSE Foundation, why didn\u2019t the OPD refer this investigation to the FDLE or another law enforcement agency due to obvious conflicts of interest. This investigation had to do with code violations that the City never enforced. The City was essentially investigating itself. Isn\u2019t this a serious ethics violation? Why does the City think that this investigation isn\u2019t biased and can be trusted by survivors?<\/p>\n Exits and Safety Statements:<\/p>\n In 2016, the City: Claimed that there were \u201cno obstructed exits\u201d and \u201cno obstructed aisles.\u201d Stated: \u201cwe don\u2019t believe there were any life\/safety issues inside the building that would prevent people from getting out of the building or rescuers from getting in.\u201d But photographs and the experiences of survivors tell a different story as does the City\u2019s own records. How can the City reconcile its prior statements with its own evidence, made public nine years after the shooting?<\/p>\n Walls and Escape Routes: In 2016, the City stated, \u201cwe understand, a wall was removed which would have made it easier for people to move around.\u201d But, walls were also added around designated exits that were not actual exits at all because they led to areas enclosed by an illegal, unpermitted fence that violated city code. Why did the City choose to spotlight a removed wall, but not mention the narrow corridors around designated exits that hindered victims\u2019 ability to escape by forcing them through narrow passageways?<\/p>\n Conditional Use Permit and Nightclub Operations: Did PULSE operate as a nightclub in violation of its conditional use permit? <\/p>\n Did PULSE\u2019s conditional use permit allow it to operate as a nightclub, with a dancefloor, and entertainment venue that charged nightly covers? Or, did the conditional use permit restrict the Pomas to operating PULSE as a restaurant with a martini bar with a specific floor plan that was not in compliance at the time of the shooting? The OPD investigation determined that PULSE was in violation of its conditional use permit, even as the Office of the Mayor denied it.<\/p>\n Did altering the approved floor plan through unpermitted renovations violate Pulse\u2019s conditional use permit?<\/p>\n Did the City\u2019s zoning law differentiate a nightclub\/dancehall from a restaurant (eating and drinking establishment)? Are these two different uses, as stated in the City\u2019s code and by City zoning officials?<\/p>\n Why did PIO Ashley Papagni state that nightclubs and restaurants are the same use and both were considered eating and drinking establishments, in direct contradiction to written statements made by the City\u2019s zoning and development officials?<\/p>\n Outdoor Patio Permit: Did Rosario Poma pull a permit for the outdoor patio? If not, then why did code enforcement claim that Pulse had the permit and why did they close the complaint made against the nightclub for this violation? Does the City admit that its Permitting Division made mistakes when it came to enforcing compliance at PULSE? Why did the City allow PULSE to operate with so many violations for 12 years? The City\u2019s code enforcement is known for its heavy use of citations and fees for code violations, but for some reason PULSE owners never received a single citation. Why?<\/p>\n Why did Timothy Johnson receive a promotion after the shooting; after Fire Marshal Tammy Hughes indicated in text messages that \u201cTJ\u201d was going to have to answer some tough questions as to why he allowed the violations at Pulse?<\/p>\n Fence and Emergency Exits: Did the PULSE fence violate city codes in terms of placement and height? Did the fence have the proper emergency hardware on its gates, as photographed by the City? Why wasn\u2019t the lack of emergency hardware ever cited by the Fire Department?<\/p>\n The City claims that Pulse had six \u201cexits,\u201d but four emptied into fully-enclosed areas; areas enclosed by the unpermitted fence. Therefore, these were not real exits. Does the City admit there were only two doors that actually provided unobstructed egress and led directly outside? The main entrance, where the shooter entered, and the double door exits in the South side of the building?<\/p>\n Occupancy and Over Capacity: Does the City have any documented evidence that PULSE was not over capacity on the night of the shooting? <\/p>\n Will the City admit that the legal capacity limit was 299 and that the FBI validated at least 304 victims\/survivors, showing that it was over capacity. <\/p>\n Does the City acknowledge that there were additional survivors who did not apply for financial assistance through the City\u2019s oneOrlando Fund who take this number even higher?<\/p>\n Before it became PULSE, Lorenzo\u2019s restaurant had a maximum capacity of 75. The Pomas did not expand the building legally and the building maintained the same square footage. How did the City come up with the 299 capacity? Where is the occupancy load evaluation for this and did the Fire Department use the nightclub\u2019s unpermitted building plans and furnishings (i.e. stripper stages) when calculating this? Will the City finally provide this documentation to survivors?<\/p>\n Police Response: At what exact time did police enter the building? Did the first police officers on scene, including Det. Adam Gruler, act in accordance with nationally-established Active Shooter Protocol?<\/p>\n Records and Evidence Handling: Did the Office of the Mayor try to destroy evidence of PULSE\u2019s permitting records, code violations, or anything else pertaining to the building\u2014including, \u201cwiping the City\u2019s backup server\u201d as alleged by Commissioner Shan Rose?<\/p>\n These 49 questions about Pulse Orlando were also posed to the City of Orlando in regards to the issues around the Pulse nightclub, the City of Orlando, unpermitted renovations, and code violations, and all questions were based on public records that were uncovered:<\/p>\n![\"Pulse](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Pulse_victims49-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>The groups has been resisting the City of Orlando\u2019s corruption, lies, and coverup, as well as their revictimizing Pulse Memorial Committee process and the exploitative \u201cFirst Response Collecting\u201d among many other issues. Because of their work and public records requests, so much has been exposed including:<\/p>\n
We have not seen a single record of an actual building inspection done on Pulse and the 2004 record says there was a \u201chold with override\u201d put on the last entry in its permitting records.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no indication that exits were blocked at the time of the incident.\u201d<\/p>\n