June 18, 2016
The Philadelphia woman injured during the deadliest mass shooting in American history has a message for people who are promoting conspiracy theories about the massacre.
In an Instagram post Friday, Patience Carter, 20, published a photo of her leg in a cast, thanking the doctors at Florida Hospital Orlando and those who have reached out in support.
She also addressed the "skeptics" that have doubted that the shooting ever even took place:
...and thank you to all the skeptics that believe my pain isn't real, it's your outrageous insensitivity that makes me want to heal even faster, and grow even stronger.
Philly.com reported that conpiracy theories about the shooting, which left 49 people dead and another 53 injured, first arose from a YouTube video published Tuesday that claims there is "clear evidence" that there was "another actor" involved in the "hoax."
In the video, which I will not link to because of its offensive and absurd content, the narrator talks about a news article in which Carter was quoted as saying the gunman tried to spare black people during the attack. Per that CBS News article:
"Are there any black people in here?" (the shooter) asked, according to Carter.
She said she was too afraid to reply, but another black person hiding in the bathroom did.
"I don't have a problem with black people," (the shooter) reportedly said in reply. "This is about my country. You guys suffered enough."
The narrator mocks Carter's suffering and seems to link the fact that Carter is an intern for Fox29 news with the notion that the shooting was a staged hoax.
The video had more than 100,000 views as of Saturday afternoon.
Carter, a North Philly native, was at the Pulse nightclub with her cousin Akyra Murray, a recent West Catholic High School graduate who was set to play basketball at Mercyhurst College in Erie this fall.
Murray was killed in the shooting. At 18 years old, she was the youngest person to die in the attack.
During an interview with reporters at the hospital, Carter recounted the night of terror.
"I really don't think I'm going to get out of there," she said. "I made peace with God. Just please take me, I don't want any more. I was just begging God to take the soul out my body."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
