White House hails Biden on Pulse shooting anniversary — even as memorial plans stall
WASHINGTON – As the nation marked seven years since the Pulse nightclub shooting Monday, the White House patted President Biden on the back for designating the site of the attack a national memorial two years earlier — even though plans for a permanent shrine have yet to get off the ground.
Forty-nine people were killed early on the morning of June 12, 2016 when self-radicalized Islamist Omar Mateen opened fire inside the Orlando LGBTQ+ club.
The massacre remains the deadliest terror attack since 9/11 and was the deadliest mass shooting in US history at the time.
Since then, community leaders have made extensive plans to build a permanent memorial – leading Biden, 80, to issue his designation in 2021.
“Today we mark seven years since the tragic Pulse nightclub shooting in the middle of Pride Month in 2016,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the top of Monday’s press briefing. “Our nation suffered what was then the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Forty-nine people, predominantly Latino members of the LGBTQI+ community, lost their lives in a senseless act of gun violence. Today we pray for the families of the victim[s] and every survivor who still carries the trauma.
“In 2021, President Biden signed a bill designating Pulse Nightclub as a national memorial, enshrining into law that is hallowed ground,” she added.
The only problem? Plans to build at the site that Biden designated a national memorial were scrapped last month when the onePULSE Foundation announced it was unable to reach an agreement with the property’s owners to donate the building and surrounding land for the memorial.
“The onePULSE Foundation is disappointed to report that after months of negotiation an agreement could not be reached with Barbara Poma, her husband, Rosario Poma, and their business partner, Michael Panaggio, for the full donation of the Pulse nightclub property,” the Foundation said in a statement at the time. “The foundation had previously planned to build a permanent national memorial at the site to commemorate the 49 lives taken, survivors, first responders, and all those impacted by the June 12, 2016, tragedy.”
It was unclear Monday if the White House was aware that plans had fallen through for a permanent memorial on the site.
Barbara Poma, who started onePULSE before stepping down in April, told Orlando’s WESH-TV that she and her husband were willing to donate the site, but Panaggio refused to fork over his portion for free.
The foundation had earlier planned to buy the site – on which the shot-up former nightclub still stands – from its owners for $2 million, but negotiations changed when it was revealed the Pomas had been given an insurance payout for the total loss of the building.
Panaggio has claimed he “never received a dime” from his investment in the nightclub.
“I am a silent investor that should never be asked to donate to a cause I’m not involved with in any way,” Panaggio told WESH. “I was totally blindsided by the request to donate my collateral for the money I invested … I do not believe their lawyer should be telling me I should donate my collateral in order to serve their purpose.”
Now the foundation is back to the drawing board for creating a memorial, which will no longer be built on the property Biden declared “hallowed ground.”
Despite the change of plans, the site’s designation remains in place. The nightclub, mostly walled off from view by photos of the victims, survivors, first responders and the city of Orlando, remains a haunting site of mourning and remembrance.
However, it’s unclear how long even that will continue to be the case. The foundation’s lease on the property to maintain the temporary memorial expires in April 2024.
