Pulse Nightclub to Hold Street Party

The owner of Orlando's Pulse nightclub is going to hold another Latin night, less than two weeks after the event became the scene of America's deadliest mass shooting. "We need to show that we are strong, that Pulse continues and that we appreciate all the help the community has shown us," says owner Barbara Poma, who opened the LGBT club in 2004 to commemorate her older brother, who died from AIDS in 1991. Poma says Thursday night's event will be a street party at a venue around 2 miles from the nightclub, which will remain closed as the investigation continues, NPR reports.

"It will be Latin night, Washington Street will be closed, Pulse entertainers will be dancing, drag queens ... the whole megillah," club spokeswoman Sara Brady tells the Orlando Sentinel. The event will benefit Pulse employees while honoring the 49 people killed and 53 injured in the June 12 attack. Poma has said she wants to show that Pulse's mission is alive. It's not clear whether the club itself will ever reopen, though WOFL spoke to mourners outside the club on Wednesday and found that they want it to return "bigger and better" as a tribute to all those who died there. (A man claiming to be the lover of gunman Omar Mateen has come forward.)