Rainbow Crosswalk Removed At Pulse Nightclub Memorial Amid Trump's Street Art Crackdown

Walk through Pulse nightclub

Members of the media are set to take a walkthrough of Pulse nightclub, the place where 49 people died in June 2016 when a gunman opened fire.

A rainbow-colored crosswalk near where 49 people were killed in a mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse has been painted over, said officials in Orlando, Florida, amid a push from the Trump administration to remove street art with “political messages.”

In a post on X, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to criticism of the move by saying, "We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes." The Florida Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a statement Aug. 21 that he was "devastated" to learn the crosswalk had been removed in the middle of the night. He said the crosswalk was part of the larger memorial and had been created with the permission from the state's transportation department.

"This callous action of hastily removing part of a memorial to what was at the time our nation's largest mass shooting, without any supporting safety data or discussion, is a cruel political act," he said.

The news comes as Republican-led states have taken up the Trump administration's directive to crack down on what it has described as politically-charged street art.

On July 1, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a letter giving states 50 days to evaluate intersections and crosswalks as part of a "nationwide roadway safety initiative." The letter said that intersections and crosswalks need to be "kept free from distractions," including "political messages of any nature" and "artwork."

This summer, the Florida Department of Transportation released a memo saying local governments could jeopardize state funding if they did not immediately remove street signs with “social, political, or ideological messages.” The memo applied to crosswalks, bicycle symbols and other road surfaces.

Since the directives went into place, cities across Florida and the nation have prepared to remove street art being targeted by the federal government.

Crosswalks and street murals gained popularity during the pandemic and especially in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, which fueled the installation of large murals reading "Black Lives Matter" on city streets across the country.

The rainbow colors were added to the crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub in 2017, according to the Orlando Sentinel, a year after a gunman walked into the gay nightclub and fatally shot 49 people and wounded 53 others. It was the nation’s deadliest mass shooting until a year later when a gunman killed 60 people at a country music festival in Las Vegas.

A survivor of the deadly shooting as well as state Democrats were quick to condemn the action.

"The cowards who feel threatened by our lives should feel lucky they didn’t have to bury the ones they love — then watch the state come & desecrate their memory," said Brandon Wolf, a Pulse survivor and activist, in a statement on X.

Florida Sen. Carolos Guiermos Smith, a Democrat, called the removal of Pride colors from the memorial of a mass shooting that killed many members of the local LGBTQ+ community "ridiculously short sighted" and "bigoted."

"I cannot believe that the DeSantis administration has engaged in this hostile act against the city of Orlando," he said. "They have insulted the families and survivors of this horrific tragedy."

He said he hopes the city of Orlando paints the colors back onto the street and sues the state for "vandalizing their poperty without their consent."

Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said the rainbow colors are not a political statement and instead "sparked joy and showed our love for all people."