TV network faces legal action over re-enactment of Pulse shooting
The Univision television network faces at least one lawsuit over a programme it aired re-enacting the Pulse nightclub shooting.
The network was massively criticised over plans to air a detailed re-enactment of the Pulse nightclub shooting which killed 49 and injured more than 50 more.
An episode of the show ‘Crónicas De Sábado’, used actors to create a detailed re-enactment of the most deadly mass shooting in US history.
Some survivors of the atrocity are featured on the show in interviews taken at the time of the shooting.
But many have taken umbrage at the episode, titled ‘Baño De Sangre’, or ‘Blood Bath’.
A trailer had been posted by the network on its social media platforms, which has since been taken down.
Now one of the victims of the shooting, Orlando Torres, who laid on the floor and played dead as the shooter killed people around him, has said he is considering legal action over the episode.
He says: I don’t need that… I don’t think any victim needs that.”
But it was noticed by some, and the network was accused of “re-traumatising” members of the LGBT community.
The owner of the Pulse club where the shooting took place, Barbara Poma, posted on the Facebook page for the show that the “lack of respect for these grieving families” was “incomprehensible”.
Many have called for a boycott of the network.
“Boycott this show, call the station and tell them we will not support them getting rich off of others’ pain and will not allow them to make up events and stories that never happened. Let the families and survivors heal,” reads a statement posted to a petition page.
Univision on Thursday tweeted a statement which reads: “Univision has set out to create a report that is deeply respectful of the many people whose lives were impacted by this tragedy, and, at the same time, is faithful to the facts underlying this horrible crime.”
On Thursday it was expected that families and friends of those lost in the shooting would gather at the Pulse.
