Washington D.C., June 1, 2017—Pulse shooting survivors and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence are calling on news outlets to stop sharing recently released videos from the body cameras of police officers responding to the mass shooting that killed 49 people and wounded many more. Many outlets have published the graphic footage since it was released yesterday.
Brady Campaign president Dan Gross said, "Every day we count on the media to serve the public good; broadcasting this upsetting footage just doesn't accomplish that. It advances nothing and educates no one - at great personal cost to those who lived it. We're asking media outlets to refuse to publish the footage, or pull it if they already have. The fact is, this kind of notoriety serves as a reward for killers and as a call-to-action for others who would seek to do similar harm in the name of infamy and hate."
Pulse shooting survivors Angel Colon, Angel Santiago, and Luis Roldan issued a statement saying, "The night of June 12th, 2016, was the worst night of our lives. Videos like this force us to relive it all over again, every terrifying minute. And we're the lucky ones, the ones who made it out. You don't need to watch that footage to know what happened, and why. It was the worst night of our lives. But it was also the beginning of so many stories of hope, love, progress, and pride. Those are the stories most deserving of our attention, not this. We hope news outlets across the country respect our perspective and agree to stop publishing this footage."
Brady has one powerful mission — to unite all Americans against gun violence. We work across Congress, the courts, and our communities with over 90 grassroots chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in common sense. In the spirit of our namesakes Jim and Sarah Brady, we have fought for over 45 years to take action, not sides, and we will not stop until this epidemic ends. It’s in our hands.
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