Judge Dismisses Florida Arrest Over Rainbow Chalk Art Near Pulse Nightclub [View all]
Ron DeSantis’ administration has banned chalk art on roads and painted over a memorial to victims of the mass shooting at the Orlando LGBTQ nightclub
By Naomi LaChance
August 30, 2025
A judge tossed a case, finding no probable cause on Saturday after Florida police arrested a man as part of an ongoing standoff over art at a crosswalk memorializing the 2016 mass shooting at the LGBTQ Pulse nightclub in Orlando, WESH reported. The man has been released from jail.
Florida Highway Patrol arrested Sebastian Suarez during a protest Friday night outside the nightclub. He colored the bottom of his shoe with chalk and then left footprints as he crossed the street. He was facing a charge of defacing a traffic device.
“To come here and do something like this, and to be threatened with something so extreme as a felony charge for protesting and showing love to your fellow human, it’s just insane in my opinion,” Suarez told WESH.
“We came out here yesterday just to show our support, to come out and help with the chalking,” he said. He and his fiancée are visiting from Georgia ...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/judge-florida-arrest-rainbow-chalk-art-pulse-nightclub-1235419363/
= new reply since forum marked as read