“Even if it’s an accident, just the loss of a life.” and this has really rattled a lot of people,” said Rolli. “The reason people like Wilton manors is the whole community is one big family and that’s how we treat each other. “May the memory of the life lost be for a blessing.”Ī spokesman for the chorus said the director did not want to give interviews, adding that many members of the small group witnessed the fatal crash and were deeply shaken. “I am so heartbroken by what took place at this celebration,” she said. In a statement Saturday night, Wasserman Schultz said she was safe but “deeply shaken and devastated that a life was lost.” Debbie Wasserman Schultz in tears while in a convertible at the parade. Photos and video from the scene showed Democratic U.S. Wilton Manors is a tight-knit community near Fort Lauderdale with a vibrant downtown filled with cute shops, where people line up for Rosie’s famous hamburgers or to gossip and drink at Georgie’s Alibi Monkey Bar. “As the facts continue to be pieced together, a picture is emerging of an accident in which a truck careened out of control.” I feared it could be intentional based on what I saw from mere feet away,” he said in a Twitter statement Sunday. Trantalis, who is Fort Lauderdale’s first openly gay mayor, initially told reporters the act was deliberate, adding to the confusion Saturday night.
“I was getting phone calls from people I knew at the other end waiting for the parade saying, ‘Is this true? Is that true, do we have anything to worry about?’ You don’t know at that point.”įort Lauderdale Police said no arrests have been made saying they are conducting a thorough investigation with the FBI, nothing in a statement they are “considering and evaluating all possibilities.” “People were really distraught and some people were crying,” said Rolli, who explained that the crash happened in an area where the floats were lining up, so there weren’t as many parade-goers. In the confusion, it was unclear what happened. Rolli was on the other side of the float and didn’t witness the crash, but jumped off immediately and ran to the victims.
#FORT LAUDERDALE GAY PRIDE PARADE 2018 DRIVER#
The driver and the victims were a part of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus family, a small 25-member group of mostly older men. “The early investigation now indicates it looks like it was a tragic accident, but nobody’s saying finally what it is,” Rolli told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
The elderly driver had ailments that prevented him from walking, according to a statement Sunday from Fort Lauderdale Police, who said he was cooperating with the investigation and there was no evidence drugs or alcohol was involved. The 77-year-old driver was taken into custody, but police said no charges have been filed and the investigation is ongoing.
Wilton Manors Vice Mayor Paul Rolli and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said the early investigation shows it was an accident. It should be a fun afternoon.A member of a men’s chorus group unintentionally slammed into fellow chorists at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida, killing one member of the group and seriously injuring another, the group’s director said Sunday, clarifying initial speculation that it was a hate crime directed at the gay community. I will be joined by my buddy who goes by Ttable Whey and who’ll be displaying – and selling – some of his unique digitized photo montage art as well as playing electronic music he writes including a club music track incorporating sound bites from my Audiobook Edition.Īnd his music which includes DJ tracks at:
#FORT LAUDERDALE GAY PRIDE PARADE 2018 FREE#
For more info and a free listen of some audiobook chapters, check out: If you shout back, “Fuck yea!” like you mean it, you’ll get a free USB with a sample chapter of the audiobook edition (narrated by me) of my latest work of gay erotica, “For The Love of Samuel.” It’s a story of love lost and love found, where an aging Manhattan gay man comes into possession of the dog tag of a long dead Civil War soldier which promises him eternal youth and a chance at meeting the live of his life. Join Us At Fort Lauderdale’s Wilton Manors Stonewall Gay Pride Festival This Saturday, June 16