Orlando Shooting Reaction: Humanity at its Worst, Humanity at its Best

You can see it from the scenes on the streets of Orlando. The hundreds of people. More than 1,500 people. Older people. Younger people. Men. Women. Couples with children too young to understand why they are there.

It is without doubt that these people had other plans this Sunday.

But they came — many before a call to donate officially went out — to blood centers.

Elsewhere, people showed their grief and their support in different ways.

On a day one person in Orlando showed the world the worst in human behavior, the rest of the nation wanted to show the world humanity at its best.

The reaction around the country has been a mixture of outrage and heartbreak, defiance and empathy, love and hatred.

In Washington, D.C., President Obama, who has become our mourner-in-chief, appeared before reporters, delivering lines with a weariness of having had to speak to them yet another time about a mass shooting.

"We grieve the brutal murder, a horrific massacre of dozens of innocent people," Obama said. "We pray for their families, who are grasping for answers with broken hearts."

This month, around the country, people are celebrating Pride. It is ostensibly about LGBT culture but lately, especially today, it has taken a larger meaning.

In cities from Los Angeles to Boston, officials have made it clear that as horrific as the attack in Orlando was, it will not stop parades, it will not stop celebrations, it will not prevent people from being open about who they are or whom they love.

The attack in Orlando has been answered around the country by people stepping up to stay they will not be cowed.

Meanwhile, the people who look to succeed Obama also spoke out — or, at least, Tweeted.

Hillary Clinton was quick to express sympathy.

Her expected challenger, Donald Trump, tweeted that he was "praying for all the victims & their families" and followed it up with a self-congratulatory tweet about how he was prescient about the danger of Islamic terrorism.

As always, when struggling to find a way to react, to form some sort of understanding what is almost unfathomable, many politicians reached into their toolbox of the familiar.

Governors and mayors from New York to Oregon joined President Obama in ordering flags lowered to half-staff. There have been countless expressions of sympathy for the victims and their families mixed in with denunciations of extremist Muslims.

Mostly there was heartbreak and calls to action.

While it may never be known if the killer was motivated by some twisted interpretation of Islam or a hatred of the LGBT community — Mateen's father gave a statement saying his son was motivated to act after seeing a gay couple kiss in Miami recently — there is no question many are showing solidarity with the LGBT community.

Celebrities took to Twitter with variations on the rainbow.

And

No words for more senseless killing. #love to all the families suffering today. #Orlando pic.twitter.com/xPJVAmkYOr
— Minnie Driver (@driverminnie) June 12, 2016

There were statements of solidarity from around the country.

"While we don't know yet the specific motive of the shooter, it is obviously a hateful act," said Equality Illinois. "We do know we should all feel safe in our homes, schools and places of business and entertainment."

Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, the first openly gay Senator in U.S. history, released a statement.

"It was an attack on the freedoms we all hold dear," she wrote on Facebook. "We are better than this and it is past time to act together."

While there were many joining Baldwin in calling for people to act together, there was also a very strong movement on social media to point out that perhaps the great irony of the day is that the group most affected by the shooting — the LGBT community — is the one group pretty much forbidden from giving blood to help out.

Orlando needs blood donations for the shooting at #Pulse yet we, gay men, are prohibited by law from donating to save our own. #Irony
— Michael Dean Shelton (@michaeldean0116) June 12, 2016

Several people took to Twitter and Facebook expressing amazement about how technology has added an almost surreal quality to their lives — allowing them to let the world know they are "safe" when something tragic has happened.

Muslims also took to Twitter to let the world know that regardless of what the killer professed, he was not speaking for them or for their religion.

#Orlando #USA #NotInMyName pic.twitter.com/9aFQ3NITWl
— Abdul (@MyDesertMyCity) June 12, 2016

It is the largest mass shooting in United States history.

There are calls for sympathy, empathy, blood, help, strengthened laws, retribution, moments of silence, for this to never happen again. There will be candlelight vigils and marches.

And already there are people saying that despite the horror, despite the tragedy, they do not feel it will change anything.