Two years ago today, shots rang out at what had been a popular nightclub in Orlando. When it was over, 49 people and the gunman were dead and the Central Florida city beloved by generations as a vacation destination was forever changed.
PAST COVERAGE: My shoes melted covering the mass shooting President Trump called "underreported"
Omar Mateen, 29, pledged allegiance to ISIS during a 911 call. In March, jurors found his wife, Noor Salman, not guilty on charges of obstruction of justice and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
"A verdict of not guilty did not mean that we thought Noor Salman was unaware of what Omar Mateen was planning to do," the jury foreman, who preferred not to have his name published, said afterward. "On the contrary, we were convinced she did know. She may not have known what day, or what location, but she knew.
"However, we were not tasked with deciding if she was aware of a potential attack," the foreman continued. "The charges were aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice."
Then President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden arrived to meet with families and to place white roses at a memorial site.
"Unfortunately, our politics have conspired to make it as easy as possible for terrorists or just a a disturbed individual to buy extraordinarily powerful weapons, and they can do so legally," Obama said after meeting with the families of the fallen and wounded. "This debate needs to change."
The national press descended on Orlando, which is perhaps why a freak alligator attack at a Disney resort a few days after the shooting received so much coverage.
Yet the tragedy made the White House's 2017 list of "underreported terrorist attacks."
"It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported," President Donald Trump told a group of military leaders and troops during a Monday visit to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. "And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that."
For a time, the Pulse massacre was the worst mass shooting spree in recent U.S. history. That record didn't stand for long. On Oct. 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on thousands of concertgoers from his Las Vegas strip hotel room, killing 58. He then fatally shot himself.
The Pulse nightclub never reopened. Plans to turn it into a permanent memorial are still in the works.
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