June 12, 2016, 10 years ago: Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, is hosting a Latin Night when 102 people are shot by a single gunman. Of those, 49 died.
The shooter was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old Long Island native, a son of Afghan immigrants, who was working for the Florida Department of Corrections. His family was described as moderate Muslims, but going back to his childhood, he had a preoccupation with violence. He had sworn allegiance to the terrorist group ISIL, and said that the killing of ISIL official Abu Waheeb in Iraq the month before set him off. After a 3-hour standoff inside the club, Orlando police shot and killed him.
The massacre was officially classified a terrorist attack, and still ranks as the deadliest one in America since 9/11. It was the deadliest mass shooting in American history, but that record only lasted until October 1, 2017, in Las Vegas -- one that has not been officially classified as a terrorist attack.
The massacre deeply shook the people of Central Florida, and gay Americans everywhere. At the time, what was then named Orlando City Stadium was being constructed in Orlando, to be the home of Major League Soccer's Orlando City SC (Soccer Club), and the National Women's Soccer League's Orlando Pride, a name obliquely referencing women's soccer's ties to the gay community.
When the stadium opened on February 24, 2017, 49 seats in Section 12 were painted in a rainbow pattern, as a memorial to the Pulse victims. The venue was renamed Exploria Stadium in 2019, and Inter&Co Stadium in 2024.
Pulse had opened in 2004. It never reopened after the shooting, not even in a different location. The site of the building is planned for a memorial and museum, but has run into delays for various reasons.
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