Documented Facts
We frequently get requests from people who want to see the original records, which we have collected from a variety of sources including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the City of Orlando, the Orlando Police Department, surrounding responding police departments, the Orlando Fire Department, the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and Orange County. We will continue to post these on our social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), but are beginning to create an archive here so that they are accessible to the public.
On this page, you will see records pertaining to the unpermitted renovations and code violations at the Pulse Nightclub that hindered the escape and rescue of shooting victims; financial documents pertaining to the OnePULSE Foundation (the nonprofit created by the Pulse Nightclub owner to turn our tragedy into a privatized tourist attraction); and more.
If you notice anything while exploring these primary sources that we have not mentioned in any of our work, please let us know by contacting us via email at nopulsemuseum@gmail.com or on our social media accounts.
1. $10M Tourism Tax Grant: Documents and Invoices from the OnePULSE Foundation to Orange County Surrounding the $10M Tourism Tax Grant. These were not released to the public, but obtained independently on August 1, 2022:
Click on the image above to download the PDF
2. The City of Orlando's Inventory of Code Violations and Unpermitted Renovations at the Pulse Nightclub: This document was compiled by City Attorneys in preparation for potential litigation against the City of Orlando. This inventory was not previously released to the public and was obtained by CCAPM on October 13, 2020, after back-and-forth to provide the document without redactions after the statute of limitations expired:
Click on the image above to download the PDF
3. The Post-Shooting Inspection That Never Happened: On July 13, 2016, Orlando Fire Marshal Tammy Hughes was scheduled to complete an inspection of the code violations at Pulse Nightclub. She mentioned in text messages to Fire Chief R. Williams that code violations were both documented and observed. However, this inspection never happened. The City of Orlando claimed that because the building was vacant after the shooting, they had no legal requirement to inspect Pulse Nightclub. It did not matter to them that 49 people were murdered there and code violations were documented to have hindered rescue/escape. The City of Orlando did not want to document or investigate the issues at Pulse and was concerned about its own liability (as documented in the list above).
Click on the image above to download the PDF
4. Blocked by a Coke "Machine": According to the City of Orlando's own Fire Marshal (Tammy Hughes), one of the exits at the Pulse Nightclub was blocked. Text messages show that Code Enforcement even took photos of a Coke "machine" that was pushed over on the ground outside of the gate on the west side of the nightclub that led to the fenced-in "service alley" that was obstructed by garbage cans and other storage items. It was also referred to by first responders as a "tunnel" and "narrow hallway." Wood lattice connected the fence to the awning of the roof, so people could not hop the fence in this particular area of the nightclub property.
City of Orlando lawyers in the Office of the Mayor provided City Commissioners and the media with bogus possibilities and no real answers in a Q&A document that they emailed. This was not released by the City on their public records page, like many of the records we have received through individual records requests. The City immediately protected the Pulse owners and providing excuses for them, like "most businesses at some point are going to have a minor infraction." They never inspected the building to know if there were major infractions, because they didn't want to. There was never a criminal investigation into the owners' or City's liability.
We know from interviews conducted with responding law enforcement during an internal investigation (also not released on the city's Pulse Tragedy records website) that the police had to move and knock over the Coke cooler/machine to rescue victims who were still trapped inside and after victims were already trapped in this small alley, holding the door shut to protect themselves, but preventing others from escaping (see video below). Why did city attorneys lie and provide a false scenario that the Coke "machine" "could have been knocked over when the OPD breached the wall" when they knew police had to move it to get to trapped victims? By protecting the Pomas, they were also protecting themselves from liability.
As shown by the unpermitted building plans released by the City of Orlando (that were sitting in Timothy Johnson's inbox since 2010 at the time of the shooting), the service alley was a main exit route that connected the back patio and multiple exits from the nightclub. We know at this time, the City was trying to get the nightclub into compliance, but nothing was ever done to enforce the laws. No citation. No fine. No closure. Pulse Nightclub was allowed to operate with known violations and against its approved use.
