Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.
Geoffrey Paquette is a union leader and is one of the protestors who was arrested for a sit in Marco Rubio‘s office.
On Sunday Geoff went to Centra Care because he was sick. His wife was away in Atlantic City. She texted to ask if he was OK. He called her back and she asked, “Did you hear the news?” He hadn’t. He turned on the news to find out what had happened. He hadn’t been to Pulse before but they lived just a mile from the club.
He went to the vigil downtown. there were about 50,000 people there. There were so many people, you couldn’t even really move. It was incredible. Then there was the vigil in front of the new performing arts center.
The union began to pull together with the activist groups, like Organize Now and Jobs for Justice, CWA, and the Unitarian Church in Orlando after Pulse. There were weekly meetings. There was an outpouring of support where people felt that had to do something.
Marco Rubio was one of the first politicians to stand in front of camera to say how horrible the Pulse shooting was. However he does nothing to help Floridians in terms of better paying jobs. Laws are needed to benefit working people in the state. He didn’t support any bill to outlaw assault weapons. Prayers for the families are empty without meaningful actions.
The union was involved in the planning for the Marco Rubio sit in. Most of the Union staff of about 25 who went to the sit in are hotel workers. About half the staff went. They met at Organize Now’s office prior to the sit in. They were not even sure if they could get in the building. They filed into the building in s line. The security guards must have been on a bathroom break. The lobby was empty. Everyone sat don in the lobby. When the guard got back from the bathroom, he found 80 to 100 people sitting in the lobby. He shouted, “OK, everyone out!” This was a way to apply pressure against those, like Rubio, who did nothing following the Pulse shooting. It was a way to push for what is right. You have to put your money here your mouth is. Geoff was arrested and he is proud that he stood up for what he believes in. It was the right thing to do. Unfortunately Rubio is still in office.