St. Pete Pride Getting Beefed Up Security

St. Petersburg, FL — Tampa Bay area residents with plans to attend this year’s Pride Weekend events in St. Petersburg can count on seeing enhanced security in the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando.

On Monday afternoon, the St. Petersburg Police Department tweeted its intentions to ramp up security for St. Pete Pride events. The agency plans to partner with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to keep the four-day celebration safe, it said.

The police department, however, stressed it cannot do it alone.

“If you see something, say something,” the agency tweeted.

That reaction comes just one day after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Omar Marteen, 29, went into the Orlando Pulse Night Club & Ultra Lounge, a popular gay bar, around 2 a.m. on Sunday armed with two weapons. He shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more before he was also killed in the gunfire.

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• FBI Director James Comey Won't Say Shooter's Name

The massacre has been called an act of terror by President Barack Obama and Gov. Rick Scott. FBI Director James Comey said Monday his agency is looking into Mateen’s motivations and has found indications that Mateen had been radicalized.

So far, the FBI has not found any indication the plot was directed from outside the United States, Comey said.

St. Petersburg’s Pride Weekend is set to kick off on June 23 with a rooftop party presented by Hotel Zamora. It also includes a concert, Pride Parade, a 5K and the annual Pride Festival.

St. Pete Pride issued a statement following Sunday’s attacks.

“We cherish the people of Orlando and consider them our family in Pride,” the statement said. “To merely say our thoughts are with them, their loved ones and the community doesn’t begin to express the heartache, sadness and anger that we share with them today.”

St. Pete Pride also spoke out against hate, but noted gratitude for the “outburst of unity, strength and love across Florida, from all sexual orientations, identities and races.”

The show of support, the organization’s leader said, “proves that those with hatred can still be overcome.”

To read the full statement or to learn more about upcoming St. Pete Pride festivities, visit St. Pete Pride online.

Image via Shutterstock