In Westchester County, the LOFT LGBT Community Center in White Plains and the village of Mamaroneck held two separate candlelight vigils to honor the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, June 12. The attack, which took place at Pulse, an LGBT nightclub, in downtown Orlando, killed 49 people and injured 53, making it the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
The gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, entered the nightclub around 2 a.m., armed with both a semiautomatic AR-15 assault rifle and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, and began firing shots. After identifying himself as the shooter to an Orlando news station over the phone, Mateen held hostages inside the club’s bathroom until SWAT officers, FBI agents and local law enforcement breached the building’s walls using an armored vehicle. Once officials entered the premises, a gunfight ensued, killing Mateen.
In the wake of this tragedy, community centers and organizations nationwide have been holding ceremonies and vigils in memory of those killed in the attack.
The candlelight vigil held outside the LOFT LGBT Community Center, located on Bryant Avenue, brought out a crowd of approximately 150 people. The ceremony included a reading of all 49 victims’ names and ages, along with statements made by elected officials and community clergy members, including city of White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach, a Democrat, and a spokesperson of U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat.
Other organizations representing those affected by the attack also attended the vigil, including the Westchester Hispanic Coalition and the American Muslim Women’s Association. According to Scott Havelka, LOFT director of programs and services, it was necessary to show alliances with other community organizations to display a sense of unity and solidarity in the wake of this tragedy.
“We knew we needed to organize something here in White Plains, and we thought it was important to collaborate with these groups to show that no one person represents an entire community,” he said. “We hope this vigil will help spark a continuing conversation so these mass shootings and hate crimes are not commonplace anymore.”
The candlelight vigil held by the village of Mamaroneck in front of the Courtroom on Mount Pleasant Avenue yielded a turnout of approximately 150 community members, and featured songs and poems sung by students from the Westchester Sandbox Theatre.
“[The vigil] was an opportunity for people to honor those that unfortunately lost their lives and bring to light that it is very important that while the apparent target seemed to be the LGBT community, the reality is, this is a target that affects everybody,” Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, said. “I do what I think is best for the village of Mamaroneck and offer a venue for people to express themselves.”
