Flags Fly at Half-Staff Across Treasure Coast for Pulse 10th Anniversary

Every government flagpole in Martin, St. Lucie, and Indian River counties flew at half-staff Thursday as Florida marked the 10th anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub massacre — a tragedy with roots on the Treasure Coast.

Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered flags lowered from sunrise to sunset June 12 at all local and state buildings, installations, and grounds across Florida in honor of Pulse Remembrance Day. The directive covers every county courthouse, municipal hall, and public facility on the Treasure Coast.

"Ten years ago, on June 12, 2016, a shooter claiming alliance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant committed a horrific act of terrorism at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded," DeSantis wrote in his official memorandum ordering the tribute.

The shooting at the Orlando gay nightclub was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time. Gunman Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group during a three-hour standoff with law enforcement before officers killed him in a shootout. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 others wounded.

Mateen grew up, worked, and worshipped in Martin and St. Lucie counties, thrusting Fort Pierce and surrounding communities into the national spotlight in the aftermath of the shooting.

The Pulse Nightclub building was demolished March 18 to make way for a formal memorial in Orlando designed to honor victims, survivors, and all those affected by the tragedy, officials said.

Under the U.S. Flag Code, flags flown at half-staff on land — the correct term, as opposed to half-mast, which applies only to ships and naval stations — must first be raised to the top of the pole before being lowered to the midpoint position. The same procedure applies when bringing the flag down at sunset.

The flag order required no action by local commissions or councils. It applied automatically to all qualifying public properties in the three-county region by force of the governor's memorandum.

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