The first person to be arrested at Orlando’s Pulse memorial crosswalk has been let go after a judge found “no probable cause” for his arrest by Florida Highway Patrol.
Orestes Sebastian Suarez was arrested just after 9 p.m. Friday for chalking the bottom of his shoes to walk across the Pulse crosswalk, according to court records.
The 29-year-old told WESH 2 he was visiting Central Florida from Georgia with his fiancée, and the pair stopped at the crosswalk to show their support amid the community’s pushback on FHP’s removal of the rainbow memorial outside the former Pulse nightclub.
“To come here and do something like this, and to be threatened with something so extreme as a felony charge for protesting and showing love to your fellow human, it’s just insane in my opinion,” Suarez told WESH 2.
Community members, state lawmakers and other officials have periodically gathered at the crosswalk to protest the removal and repaint, or re-chalk, the rainbow colors. Signs that read “Defacing the Roadway Is Prohibited” and “Defacing Sidewalk Prohibited” have been placed on site.
Orlando police and state troopers have also been stationed near the crosswalk in recent days to deter protesters and re-painters.
Suarez was charged with interference with a traffic control device, according to court records. The judge ruled no probable cause was found for his arrest and allowed him to be released from jail on his own recognizance.
The Pulse memorial crosswalk has been a site of controversy for the past 11 days following FDOT’s removal of the rainbow colors that are used to show LGBTQ+ support. The crosswalk is outside of the site of the 2016 mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said at the time the quiet, overnight removal was a “callous” act. Since then, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has called out the Pride paint job “political,” while FDOT claimed the reason for the change was to enhance safety, even though they themselves paid to repaint it as recently as last year.
FDOT says its change in safety policy for Florida roadways and crosswalks occurred “with input from representatives of state and local governments,” and in order to ensure Florida’s roadways “are not utilized for social, political, or ideological interests.”
The agency also pointed out that the state recently approved nearly $400,000 in state funding to help support the construction of a permanent memorial outside Pulse. The memorial is expected to, in part, include a rainbow glass prism plaza.
Reporter McKenna Schueler contributed to this report.
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2025.
