By Dan Marshall

Nanaimo vigil for Orlando shooting victims Saturday

Jun 17, 2016 | 12:13 PM

A vigil is planned for Saturday night in Nanaimo to honour the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando.

The vigil will run from 7-9pm with a fundraiser right after at the Metro Lounge.

Lauren Semple with the Nanaimo Pride Society says there will be a number of speakers at the event, and she encourages people to bring candles and flowers.

“There’s never going to be a direct answer as to why this has happened, said Semple. “What we really want to ensure is made clear at our event is if that if we stand united in love, we’re not going to be divided by hate.  And this isn’t about us versus them, us versus the Americans, versus guns, versus Islam or Muslims, this is about coming together as a community.”

Semple hopes people will join the event through facebook as well at the ‘Nanaimo is Orlando’ page.

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“The shooting did happen on the eve of our first Pride Parade and Festival here in Nanaimo.  So we were on the cusp of one large event happening and then immediately went into the mourning, and the grieving, and the realization of what’s happened to our community.  There’s still vigils, and memorials, and protests happening all over the earth right now.”

The shooting at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando on Sunday saw 49 people killed by a lone gunman, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.