Court Orders Release of 911 Calls from Night of Pulse Nightclub Massacre

In ABC, Inc. v. City of Orlando, Case No. 2016-CA-005528-O, 2016-CA-005536-O (9th Jud. Cir. Fla. Nov. 10, 2016), Rachel Fugate successfully obtained over 400 audio recordings and transcripts from the night of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Rachel represented a broad coalition of local and national media as well as open government advocacy groups in seeking access to the recordings from the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The City maintained that the recordings were part of the FBI's active investigation and that they depicted the killing of a person. The court largely disagreed with the City's claimed exemptions and found good cause for release of the recordings and transcripts. Obtained order that the media consortium was entitled to a significant portion of its fees for litigating the matter.

The New York Times discussed the order, quoting Rachel, in "911 Recordings of Gunman During Orlando Nightclub Siege Are Released" (October 31, 2016).

Read the Circuit Court's order in ABC, Inc. v. City of Orlando.