One of the victims of the Orlando mass shooting was from the state of Veracruz in Mexico, the same state that recently suffered it’s own gay bar shooting in the city of Xalapa. Joel Rayon Paniagua lost his life in the shooting at Pulse gay bar in Orlando Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32, first moved to Florida in the early 2000s but returned home to Veracruz for several years. He returned to Florida only nine months ago and was a construction worker looking for a better life but was tragically killed during the shooting at Pulse bar in Orlando. His cousin Jose Paniagua told reporters at Newsday "We came because here in the United States there are many opportunities here and because we were fleeing because in our country there was a lot of crime, violence and death ... and we expect it should be more peaceful here.” A very good friend of Paniagua’s Lorena Barragan told the Orlando Sentinel that “he was the best”. The pair met at church and Barragan adds “He was loyal. He was always trying to do stuff to make you feel better.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 16th June 2016 - 5:29pm