June 12, 2017

Heartbreaking Images From the One-Year Anniversary Vigil at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando

Forty-nine people were killed and dozens injured in the worst mass shooting in US history.

Survivors and family members of victims gathered for a private vigil at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub early Monday morning to mark the one-year anniversary of the attack there that killed 49 people and injured at least 53 others—the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

Many hundreds more gathered outside the club’s mural-adorned fence to show their support and to remember friends they lost in the massacre. Most of the victims were LGBT people of color.

“What you have endured in the past year seems like something only you can understand,” club owner Barbara Poma told the vigil inside the club, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “Except here tonight, you are surrounded by hundreds of others who are like you.”

The first memorial event at the nightclub open to the public began Monday morning; attendees wore shirts reading, “Spread love, not hate” and “Remember the 49” and were accompanied by comfort dogs. Vigils are planned around the country to mark the event, and the hashtag #OrlandoUnitedDay began trending on Twitter to mark the moment.

Here are some photos and videos from the event:

Forty-nine mourners dressed as angels and holding candles attended the event.

Gerardo Mora / EFE via ZUMA Press

A 36-foot-long, 12-foot-tall mural outside the Pulse nightclub depicts the victims and survivors of the attack—and has become an enduring memorial to the tragedy.

Gerardo Mora / EFE via ZUMA Press 

Gerardo Mora / EFE via ZUMA Press

Gerardo Mora / EFE via ZUMA Press

Gerardo Mora / EFE via ZUMA Press

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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