I was asked later if this was a hate crime, but I said the hate crime wasn’t who started the fire. I always say no. Rodger Nunez, who was gay, admitted repeatedly that he started the fire before committing suicide a year later. He was insane. He couldn’t live with the guilt. He burned that place down by starting the fire downstairs with gasoline and setting the stairs on fire. When a customer opened the door after Nunez rang the bell, it was like a chimney effect with the fire racing up the stairs and engulfing the entire floor.

The police never arrested him. They didn’t care. The police and the city were more concerned with it being a gay bar. Hell, even the churches wouldn’t have a memorial because of where the people died. Families wouldn’t even claim the remains of ones who died because of the embarrassment and shame of family members being gay. “Let the Faggots Burn” laughed people on the media. The disco song “Disco Inferno” was played on the radio.  “Where will they bury the unclaimed?” One reporter asked. “In fruit jars” another snickered. The hate crime was the reaction after the fire.