Times Activists Made Their Voices Heard in 2016

Orlando Nightclub Shooting

Americans were heartbroken after a terrorist attack killed 49 people and wounded 53 others on June 12th at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Omar Mateen carried out the attack alone, targeting the gay community in a horrific hate crime at a popular gay nightclub. It was the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter and the deadliest act of violence against the LGBT community in U.S. history.

At 2:02am Mateen entered the nightclub and opened fire on the crowd. He also took club goers as hostages and called News 13 of Orlando to tell them he was the shooter and was carrying out the killings on behalf of ISIL. Mateen was trained to be a prison guard for the Florida Department of Corrections and pursued a career in law enforcement. He had a history of violence and had threatened to kill people many times, but was cleared for his firearms license in 2007.