'We Cannot Let Them Win': N.J. Leaders React To Orlando Shooting

New Jersey officials and gay pride organizations reacted with outrage and resolve to the news of a mass shooting Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where at least 50 people were killed and 53 more hospitalized.

It is the worst mass shooting in United States history.

READ MORE: Orlando Nightclub Shooting Death Toll at 50; Act Of Terror, Says President

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who spoke to hundreds of people at the North Jersey Pride Festival in Maplewood Sunday afternoon, said "we cannot let them win."

“Now more than ever, we need to emphatically press forward with our light, with our love, with our kindness of the truth of who we are. We cannot let them win,” said Booker, whose speech was livestreamed on Facebook. “Though darkness rolled into our nation today, I still choose love. With you, I still choose pride.”

The 2 a.m. shooting occurred at Pulse Orlando Night Club & Ultra Lounge, a popular gay bar where 350 people were dancing and drinking.

The suspect, Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, was killed by law enforcement in an exchange of gunfire, according to Orlando Police Chief John Mina.

The Washington Post reported Mateen married a former New Jersey woman, Sitora Yusufiy, in March 2009. Sitora Yusufiy in 2009 in Florida. Yusufiy lived in Edison and Lawrenceville before moving with Mateen to Florida, according to the report. They were only married a few months before they divorced.

The Post reported that Yusufiy was having a difficult time when she first met him online and decided to move to Florida to be with him. The two married moved into a two-bedroom condominium Mateen’s family owned in Florida.

Yusufiy's parents reportedly pulled her out of the home after Mateen assaulted her, the Post said. Her parents flew down and pulled her out of the house, the report said. She never had contact with Mateen again despite attempts by him to reach her.

“They literally saved my life,” Yusufiy said of her parents.

Governor Christie said via Twitter that he was “outraged by [the] senseless murders in Orlando. Our prayers go out to the families.”

Outraged by senseless murders in Orlando. Our prayers go out to the families. Law enforcement needs answers so we can protect our country.
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) June 12, 2016

Garden State Equality, a statewide advocacy and education organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community said in a statement on Facebook that it “working with the Department of Homeland Security, state, and local municipalities to ensure protection at LGBT establishments and Pride festivals throughout New Jersey.”

No information about a vigil for the victims in New Jersey could be found, but a vigil will be held at 8 p.m. in New York City at Union Square at 14th Street and Broadway.

Booker said that above all, love and kindness must prevail.

“No matter how much terrorism has come to this country, from without and within, we have always managed to keep this strive towards freedom, every generation, we match hate with lover, cruelty with acts of grace,” he said. “This is what this moment calls for and each and everyday until justice flows down like water and righteousness like a might stream.”

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Sign up for Patch N.J. email newsletters here.