With chalk in hand, protesters were not deterred by new signs prohibiting any defacement of the crosswalk, which is newly painted over in black, near the former Pulse nightclub.
They pressed forward with chalking the Pulse crosswalk on West Esther Street at South Orange Avenue, forcing multiple interactions with state troopers.
“I don't think there's much for them to stand on. I understand they're trying to enforce something that I don't think is right, and I think if it's not right, then we shouldn't worry about it,” said Orange County resident Sarah Barcousky.
The site has been the source of a week-long controversy between the state and Central Florida residents after the Florida Department of Transportation paved over the rainbow crosswalk. It was a tribute to the 49 lives taken by a shooter there in 2016.
In a letter to Central Florida Public Media, FDOT said that, earlier this year it updated its regulations, which included the prohibition of non-uniform traffic control devices, such as pavement marking on state and local roads. FDOT said in June it notified local governments about roadways in violation.
Last week, FDOT said it sent notifications to municipalities not in compliance to bring their roadways up to standard. It is not clear if Orlando received this notification.
After the initial repainting, residents and FDOT workers have been in a sort of “tug-of-war” with protesters coloring the crosswalk with rainbow chalk, and crews rinsing it away, only for the process to repeat several times.
With her favorite color of chalk, Barcousky colored the tail end of the crosswalk purple, alongside several other protesters also coloring the walkway, hurrying before traffic or law enforcement could stop them.
A trooper assigned to the crosswalk said protesters could not color it under Florida’s criminal mischief statute, which states that property belonging to another cannot be damaged or defaced. The trooper directly warned Barcousky not to defy the statute. Barcousky argued that she was not, as the chalk was not damaging the roadway.
The situation grew more intense as two more troopers arrived, as well as two Orlando Police officers. However, Barcousky and other protesters continued chalking the rainbow.
“It's important to express my freedom of speech and support the victims of Pulse and also Orlando as a community,” Barcousky said.
No one was arrested, and the rainbow was finished. Then, the additional law enforcement officers left the scene.
Polk County lawyer Blake Simon was also on site on behalf of protesters, arguing with a state trooper that the statute was not being violated.
“Criminal mischief requires damage to occur to something. Chalking something with a water-soluble chalk is not damaging something further,” Simon said.
Simon said he used to frequent the Pulse nightclub before the 2016 shooting. Because of the state’s actions, he feels compelled to help, even offering to represent anyone arrested pro bono.
“By coloring parts of the crosswalk just as everybody's colored the sidewalks out here, that's part of free speech, and if they want to infringe on that, they're opening up a can of worms that I don't think that they're prepared to open,” Simon said.
The signs placed on either side of West Esther Street, along South Orange Avenue, read: “defacing the roadway is prohibited” and “no impeding traffic.”
A state trooper told Central Florida Public Media that the Florida Department of Transportation placed the signs. Central Florida Public Media reached out to FDOT, but they were not available for comment.
