Protesters outside Pulse angry at lack of arrest after man confronted and assaulted them on video

Protesters who decorated the sidewalks outside the Pulse site were attacked and beaten in Florida.

LGBTQ+ activists and allies have continued to decorate sidewalks outside of the Orlando gay club, where a mass shooter killed 49 mostly LGBTQ and Latino clubgoers. Supporters have decorated the walkways ever since the state Transportation Department under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis painted over a rainbow crosswalk established as a tribute to victims.

But earlier this month, protesters told The Orlando Sentinel a man showed up and tore away transgender and rainbow flags to throw in the street. When protester Cait Aparicio, who identifies as nonbinary, grabbed the flags and confronted the man outside his Tesla before he drove away, the individual ripped the flag away and started hitting Aparicio and other protesters.

An individual at the Dunkin Donuts location neighboring the Pulse site showed video of the incident to the newspaper.

“The unidentified man can be seen punching Aparicio once while they are on the ground before kicking them in the face when they attempt to get up,” the newspaper reported.

Another video shot from a distance also shows Aparicio getting up from the ground as the man drove away.

Aparicio, who ironically was arrested for coloring the rainbow crosswalk back in with chalk, voiced anger that police have yet to find the individual despite having video of the incident.

“I really feel like the longer he goes un-arrested, the more bold he’s gonna become, and he’s already said we should all die,” Aparicio said.

“I feel like the delay in the investigation is giving way to people to feel like the cops don’t care and that they can do whatever they want.”

Aparicio told Spectrum News he believed the man who hit him was the same one who had driven by repeatedly and shouted insults at protesters.

"This guy has been coming around since Wednesday night, slow rolling his car, rolling his window down to honk at us to get our attention, then flicking us off. Shouting we should all die, shouting slurs, all sorts of inflammatory language and gestures,” Aparicio said.

Witness Andrew Daniel told the TV station it was the man who turned physical against the protesters.

“He just turned around and started wailing on Cait in the face and upper body,” Daniel said. “Then, grabbed the flag out of Cait’s hand, ripped a flag off, hitting it with the pole and walked on the ground.”