Mayor Marty Walsh dedicates giant LGBT pride flag at Boston City Hall to Orlando shooting victims
In addition to Monday’s planned vigil and an offer to provide aid, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh extended another token of tribute for the victims of the mass shooting Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando.
This one is for you, #Orlando. With love and heavy hearts from #Boston. #LoveIsLove pic.twitter.com/1E7M9Vq4oX
— Mayor Marty Walsh (@marty_walsh) June 12, 2016
“This one is for you, #Orlando,” Walsh tweeted, with a photo of the enormous rainbow banner fluttering from the rails outside City Hall, the flag dwarfing a Subaru station wagon parked below it.
The giant flag had been up since at least Saturday as the city celebrated Boston’s Pride Parade and Festival over the weekend.
The mass shooting, which was the deadliest in United States history, took the lives of at least 50 people and hospitalized 53 more, many of whom remained in critical condition Sunday with gunshot wounds.
The attack, decried by President Barack Obama as an “act of terror,” took place at Pulse Orlando shortly before it closed at 2 a.m. The shooter, Omar Mateen, remained inside the club until 5 a.m., when a SWAT team stormed the club and killed the 29-year-old in a shootout, authorities said.
The shooting came in the midst of June, which is LGBT Pride Month. Many American cities, including Boston, celebrated this weekend with pride parades and festivals. Organizers of Boston’s Pride Parade and Festival held a moment of silence Sunday in honor of the victims during the group’s five block parties across the city.
@bostonpride holds a moment of silence for Orlando pic.twitter.com/4EF0Geicl6
— Marissa Sullivan (@marissasully) June 12, 2016
In another tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting, Walsh’s New York counterpart, Mayor Bill de Blasio, ordered the city’s government seat to be lit in rainbow colors at sunset to represent LGBT pride.
President Barack Obama also ordered the American flag above the White House to be lowered to half-staff Sunday afternoon in honor of the victims.
White House flag lowered to half-staff in honor of the victims of the Orlando shooting. https://t.co/ZdaJMtkE0q https://t.co/f3kbGgwjm8
— ABC News (@ABC) June 12, 2016
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