Orlando advocates at Pulse Aug. 21. (Photo by Bellanee Plaza)
ORLANDO | No charges will be filed against the six people who were arrested for using chalk to repaint the Pulse memorial crosswalk, according to Osceola-Orange State Attorney Monique Worrell.
The rainbow crosswalk was installed on West Esther St. off South Orange Ave. in the aftermath of the 2016 Pulse nightclub tragedy. The crosswalk was removed early Aug. 21 as part of a memo released by the Florida Department of Transportation regarding inconsistent “pavement surface markings.”
Worrell said April 24 that FDOT removed the crosswalk memorial without advance notice or safety data presented to justify the removal.
“This office will not use the power of prosecution as an instrument of political enforcement,” she said.
She also mentioned that two of her prosecutors spent more than 100 hours reviewing the arrest before deciding not to file formal charges against any of the six people arrested.
Blake Simons, founder and managing partner of Simons Law Firm, represented two people who were arrested. He says when the state believes a case has no merit, they can file what’s called a “no information” document and indicate that they are no longer going to be pursuing the matter.
“These arrests weren’t able to be substantiated because they claimed monetary damages on the crosswalk when it was water-soluble chalk,” Simons explains. “Monique Worrell has indicated that they requested documents to substantiate these damage claims and never received anything and therefore determined these charges to be meritless and have decided to file the no information for all six people that were arrested.”
He says this is good news as some of his clients had lost job opportunities because this was on their record. It was a goal to get the charges either dropped or no information from the beginning, Simons says.
Local advocates have continued to chalk the crosswalk near the site of Pulse since the arrests. The nightclub itself was demolished last month to make way for a permanent memorial, scheduled for completion in 2027.
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