The former president paid a surprise visit to the memorial Wednesday afternoon.
Former president Bill Clinton visited the Pulse memorial in Orlando Wednesday.
Clinton’s appearance was not made public until Thursday, when the former president’s press secretary, Angel Urena, confirmed his visit.
.@billclinton stopped at #Pulse to pay his respects to those lost, their friends, families & entire LGBTQ community. pic.twitter.com/TxYIMbS08G
— Angel Urena (@angelurena) August 24, 2016
The 42nd president was at the memorial for around ten minutes, where he spoke with several people at the memorial, reported the Orlando Sentinel.
“I was just driving by to be honest,” John McClain of Orlando told the paper. “I saw police pull up in front of Pulse, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, what now.’ Suddenly a guy with gray hair got out and I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s Bill Clinton.'”
The former president called it an honor to be at memorial to pay his respects to the 49 people who lost their lives on June 12 at the gay nightclub, reported the Sentinel.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visited the site in July. “We need to acknowledge and be very clear who this attack targeted: The Latino LGBT community,” Clinton said, at a community event in Orlando. “What does that mean? Well among other things, it means that it is still dangerous to be LGBT in America.”
