In the early morning hours of November 8th, a 22yr old driver engaged in a high-speed chase with Tampa, Florida police, careened into a Ybor City LGBTQ bar and nightclub, killing 4 and injuring at least 13. TPD reports Silas Sampson of Dade City was racing with another vehicle around 12:40AM through Tampa, FL streets, heading towards the interstate that runs north to south through the city. One of the vehicles got on the interstate and was pursued by Florida Highway Patrol who attempted an unsuccessful stop and PIT maneuver. (A Precision Immobilization Technique, PIT, maneuver is a law enforcement tactic to stop a fleeing vehicle by using the patrol car to deliberately and intentionally tap the rear quarter panel of the suspect's vehicle. This contact causes the suspect's car to lose traction, spin out, and stop, bringing the pursuit to a halt. The maneuver requires extensive training and is considered risky due to the potential for severe injury or death). The suspect then headed towards Ybor City, and turned onto 7th Avenue, a highly populated entertainment district lined with countless bars and restaurants. TPA reported stopping chase with the vehicle at that time.

The car crashed into Bradley’s on 7th, a long-standing LGBTQ bar that had been a staple in the community, open for nearly 15yrs, hitting a crowd of party-goers in front of the bar. Three victims died at the scene, another was pronounced dead at the hospital and 10+ were injured. Two of the victims remain in critical condition.

Orlando, FL - On June 30th, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) issued a memo to municipalities, banning street art containing social, political, or ideological messages on roads, shoulders, intersections, and sidewalks. They cited safety concerns for the aggressive stance and went on to threaten withholding state funding from cities that didn’t immediately comply. The directive targets public art like Pride crosswalks that appear throughout the state and the "Black History Matters" street mural found outside of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museumin St. Petersburg, FL.

Since, several cities including West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach and Tallahassee, have started willingly removing the art while the cities of Delray Beach, Miami Beach, Key West and St. Petersburg, FL seem poised to fight back. In a subsequent letter from the State, several of those cities were told to remove the Art by a deadline of Sept 3rd and if they did not, FDOT would come in without further communication to remove the artwork “by any appropriate method”, the expense of which would be charged back to the municipality.

In stunning news, the City of Orlando woke today to learn that the State of Florida had come in overnight on Wednesday under the cloak of darkness and removed the rainbow cross walk that stretched across Orange Ave, the street that sits directly in front of Pulse Nightclub where 49 innocent victims lost their lives in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016. The city of Orlando, it’s Mayor, several elected officials and countless community members condemned the act and began immediately filling the then blank crosswalk spaces in with color chalk.