Journalist writes touching tribute for friend killed in Orlando massacre

Shannon Power, writing for the Sydney Star Observer, said she woke to the news of the horrific massacre and scrolled through Twitter to find out more.

That’s when she saw the name Edward Sotomayor, a man she knew.

“I met Top-Hat Eddie — as he was known for his signature top hat he wore everywhe-re — in London last year, whe-re he invited me on a pub crawl,” Power said.

“Eddie was responsible for shepherding a bunch of drunk RuPaul’s Drag Race fans (myself included) around Soho. He did it with patience and humour. He was a saint, simply for putting up with us.”

Power said Mr Sotomayor cared for her and was interested in knowing more about her.

“Like many people today has been hard for me. I’ve broken down in tears at a number of Sydney train stations reading the online tributes,” she wrote.

“The homophobic attack has broken my heart. Eddie’s senseless death has broken my heart. But I have taken solace in the community banding together to clearly state, that love is love and love is better than hate.”

Orlando massacre victim Edward Sotomayor was known as Top-Hat Eddie.Source:Facebook

Power said her friend was trying to protect his boyfriend and usher him out of the Pulse nightclub when he was shot in the back.

At least 50 people were shot dead and 53 injured in the nightclub massacre which began about 2am Sunday (4pm Sunday AEST).

Omar Mateen, 29, was named the man responsible and was shot dead by police about three hours after the massacre began.

C-harles Bolton, f-rom Manchester in the United Kingdom, also paid tribute to Mr Sotomayor, 34, on Facebook.

He said while he didn’t know him well, he had gone on one of the Drag Race cruises whe-re Mr Sotomayor was working.

“I’ve watched the whole event unfold today. I woke up this morning to find out initially 20 people were killed and many more hurt, then the count went up to 50 killed. Then we found out Eddie was at Pulse nightclub and he was missing,” Mr Bolton said.

“He (Mr Sotomayor) sent the owner of the travel company a video 23 minutes before the shooting. All day, people have been waiting for news and hoping he was OK.

“Unfortunately he was killed in the mass shooting. I never connect with the news as it doesn’t affect me, and I just see it as numbers and words hence why I never post about sad scenarios, but this is different. Our community was targeted and someone I knew, was killed. Absolutely horrendous and it could happen to any of us.”

Mr Sotomayor’s cousin, David Sotomayor, told the Associated Press he was “always part of the fun” and a friend told People he was one of the greatest guys her’s ever met.