How can Orlando heal after "Not Guilty?"
“Not Guilty” two words that brought tears of relief to Noor Salman and tears of reopened trauma to Pulse survivors and victims’ families.
There are two kinds of court; one is about law and the other public opinion. This legal verdict closed the most painful chapter in central Florida history. The same verdict opened another chapter in the court of public opinion. People are angry, talking about flaws in the system, what the FBI should have done and how the wife of a self-proclaimed terrorist should have acted.
There are two sides to a story, one is factual and the other feeling. When feelings are stirred up facts are forgotten.
Legal analyst Bill Sheaffer often says “it’s about the law,” because the justice system must follow due process. It is factual and when a verdict of “not guilty” is given, the justice system allows the accused to be released. Ms. Salman was reunited with her son and now can parent the child she had with Omar Mateen. She will have to manage painful memories, both the ones publicly exposed in federal court and the private ones she may have buried deep inside.
She was released from a holding cell and is now legally free yet the court of public opinion may not ever let her go. Some will place her in the ranks of high-profile released defendants like Casey Anthony, George Zimmerman or O.J. Simpson. The court said they were found “not guilty” of a crime, while the cloud of public opinion followed them with intense paparazzi scrutiny to document their every move. Three of the most watched legal cases in our nation happened here in central Florida. I believe the nation is still watching Orlando to see what we will do next.
Noor Salman has to rebuild her life on the other side of a tragedy. So do the survivors. WFTV’s Martha Sugalski asked me what can traumatized victims’ families do besides talk? It was a timely question and a complex one because sorrow can steal away your soul.
Orlando can stay stuck in the pain of a fractured community grasping for answers or we can unite and find a purpose in the pain. Resilient people move forward. They abandon the phrase, “see something – say something” to a more active approach of “see something – say something – DO something.”
What can central Florida do now that a federal court of law says justice was served?
Light a candle in the darkness. Find a renewed purpose in the pain. Reach across the street to meet a neighbor who is different than you, yet grieving just the same. Stand up against hate. The verdict was shared on Good Friday, a day that challenges the faith community to forgive as they have been forgiven. It’s not easy to let go of pain but it is necessary to grab hold of something better. To practice what I saw on a sign a woman was holding near Pulse last night. “Love Wins”.
Dwight Bain is a psychological first responder, lifelong resident of Orlando and founder of The LifeWorks Group. @DwightBain across all social media platforms.