Orlando’s Latino community mourns tragedy at Pulse nightclub

World Today

Orlando's Latino community mourns tragedy at Pulse nightclub1

The Latino community in Orlando is trying to come to grips with the shooting rampage at Pulse nightclub. Many of the victims were of Puerto Rican descent.

CCTV America’s Nitza Soledad Perez gets reaction from their friends and loved ones.

“We have more than half of the fatal victims are Puerto Rican. More than 25 as of now and of the wounded we know there are 57 wounded and we know that at least 20 of them are Puerto Rican,” Pedro Julio Serrano, a gay activist and the executive director of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s said.

“We lost at least 10 people that we know, but two were closer friends. They had a beauty salon, very successful, everybody knew them in here in town. They were really professional people,” Juan Carlos, a friend of Puerto Rican Victims said.

Since the economy of the island started a downward spiral in 2006, more than 400,000 Puerto Ricans have moved to Central Florida. Orlando is home to the second largest Puerto Rican community in continental U.S.

“They fled Puerto Rico because they didn’t have the security to live there, and they come here and they find death,” Serrano said. “I’m walking through the streets of Orlando, and I see people that come up to me, and they tell us that they love us, and to receive such love, in the face of such hate it gives me hope about humanity.”