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Signs pop up at former Pulse memorial rainbow crosswalk saying ‘Defacing Roadway Prohibited’
AND LOOK AHEAD TO THE WEEKEND IN MINUTES. SEE YOU THEN. ERIC ALSO DEVELOPING RIGHT NOW. THE BACK AND FORTH CONTINUES OUTSIDE OF PULSE, WHERE PEOPLE ON THEIR HANDS AND KNEES ONCE AGAIN COLORING THE CROSSWALK THAT THE STATE CONTINUES TO ERASE. TODAY, THAT CONTROVERSY REACHED A NEW LEVEL AS LAW ENFORCEMENT CONFRONTED PEOPLE USING CHALK AND WARNED THEM THEY COULD BE ARRESTED IF THEY CONTINUE. WESH TWO GREG FOX LIVE OUTSIDE PULSE FOR US, WHERE FRUSTRATIONS CAN BE FELT TODAY. GREG WHAT EXACTLY DID LAW? WHAT LAW COULD THEY BE VIOLATING? WELL, A COPY OF IT WAS GIVEN TO ME BY THE SERGEANT WITH THE FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL OUT HERE SAID HE WAS ALSO GIVING A COPY OF THIS TO THE PEOPLE THAT HE WAS WARNING TODAY. IF THEY WERE CAUGHT TRYING TO COLOR THE PAVEMENT FOR A WHILE TODAY, IT LOOKED LIKE THERE COULD BE ARRESTS. JUST AFTER 3:00 FRIDAY MORNING, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CREWS ARRIVED AT THE CROSSWALK NEXT TO THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB MEMORIAL. THEY HOSED DOWN THE FRESHLY CHALKED RAINBOW FLAG PAVEMENT AND THEN POSTED SIGNS READING DEFACING ROADWAY PROHIBITED AND NO IMPEDING TRAFFIC. BUBBA TRAHAN, WHO PROVIDED WESH TWO NEWS WITH THIS VIDEO, TOLD US AN FDOT WORKER EXPLAINED THAT VIOLATORS WOULD BE WARNED FIRST AND SECOND OFFENSES WOULD RESULT IN ARREST. FDOT HAS TO COME OUT HERE AND WE HAVE TO PAY THEM SO THAT PRICE IS, YOU KNOW, TOO HIGH FOR US TO HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN. BY LATE MORNING, DEMONSTRATORS WERE TESTING THE RESOLVE OF THE FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL TROOPERS GUARDING THE CROSSWALK. SO THEY’RE EXERCISING THEIR FREEDOM OF SPEECH. WE GOT A LOT OF CARS COMING THROUGH HERE. CITING SAFETY CONCERNS, MORE LAW ENFORCEMENT ARRIVED, INCLUDING ORLANDO POLICE, AS CONFRONTATIONS HEATED UP BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WANT PEOPLE TO PLACE ON THE CROSSWALKS. SO WHAT ARE THEY VIOLATING? YOU CALL THEM. THEY’LL TELL YOU. SO WHAT? COULD YOU POSSIBLY ARREST THEM FOR IF YOU CAN’T TELL THEM WHAT THEY’RE VIOLATING? THERE’S A FEW PEOPLE ALREADY GIVE OUT WARNINGS TO TWO PEOPLE. FOR WHAT? WHAT DID THEY VIOLATE? WITH NO ONE ARRESTED, THE EARLY AFTERNOON SAW A SQUAD OF DEMONSTRATORS BEGIN FILLING IN THE REST OF THE BLANK SPACES WITH RAINBOW COLORS, SOME OF THEM CLEARLY FRUSTRATED BY WHAT THEY CALLED HEAVY HANDED TACTICS BY THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS. ONE CROSSWALK IS ALL WE ASK FOR IN ORLANDO, AND THEY HAVE TO GET UPSET ABOUT THAT. YOU KNOW, 49 PEOPLE PASSED AWAY. IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE. DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER ANNA ESKAMANI WONDERS WHEN THE STREET COLORING SHOWDOWN WILL END. THEY COULD SOLVE REAL PROBLEMS LIKE THE PROPERTY INSURANCE CRISIS, BUT INSTEAD THEY’RE FOCUSING ALL THEIR TIME AND ENERGY ON ON BULLYING AND HARASSING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. AND WESH TWO NEWS REACHED OUT TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, THE FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL AND THE ORLANDO POLICE DEPARTMENT TO GET SOME KIND OF A STATEMENT FROM THEM ON EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE, HOW LONG IT’S GOING TO LAST, HOW LONG WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO SEE TROOPERS OUT HERE. WE’LL UPDATE OUR STORY WHEN WE HEAR BACK. COVERI
Signs pop up at former Pulse memorial rainbow crosswalk saying ‘Defacing Roadway Prohibited’
Updated: 5:02 PM EDT Aug 29, 2025
Road signs have been placed at the former Pulse memorial rainbow crosswalk that warn against defacing the roadway and impeding traffic. Demonstrators told WESH 2 that troopers warned them that if they use chalk to re-color the crosswalk, they could be arrested for criminal mischief.It’s the latest development in an ongoing fight over colorful crosswalks and street art in Florida that the state is targeting. FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue said, “Anything previously permitted or installed you can bring up from past is irrelevant now, (there is) new law and standard and it’s the … pavement art not allowed and we’re removing everything that’s not compliant with state federal standards … “Surveillance video obtained by WESH 2 shows FDOT crews erasing the rainbow crosswalk at Pulse last week in the middle of the night. Protesters have been coloring in the crosswalk, while FDOT crews continue to paint over it with black and white.Now, the signs appear to be an effort to stop the use of chalk. At one point, Orlando police and Florida Highway Patrol were stationed 24/7 at the crosswalk near Pulse – the site of the 2016 massacre. >> This is a developing story and will be updated
Road signs have been placed at the former Pulse memorial rainbow crosswalk that warn against defacing the roadway and impeding traffic.
Demonstrators told WESH 2 that troopers warned them that if they use chalk to re-color the crosswalk, they could be arrested for criminal mischief.
It’s the latest development in an ongoing fight over colorful crosswalks and street art in Florida that the state is targeting.
FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue said, “Anything previously permitted or installed you can bring up from past is irrelevant now, (there is) new law and standard and it’s the … pavement art not allowed and we’re removing everything that’s not compliant with state federal standards … “
Surveillance video obtained by WESH 2 shows FDOT crews erasing the rainbow crosswalk at Pulse last week in the middle of the night.
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Protesters have been coloring in the crosswalk, while FDOT crews continue to paint over it with black and white.
Now, the signs appear to be an effort to stop the use of chalk.
At one point, Orlando police and Florida Highway Patrol were stationed 24/7 at the crosswalk near Pulse – the site of the 2016 massacre.
>> This is a developing story and will be updated
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