James Fahy, left, was killed Saturday evening at the beginning of the Stonewall Pride Parade in Fort Lauderdale when a pickup truck driven by Fred Johnson, right, accelerated unexpectedly and hit Fahy and another man.
Although the investigation continues into an incident at the Stonewall Pride Parade in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday evening, June 19, Fort Lauderdale police said today that “all available information and evidence indicates this was a terrible accident.”
The parade began in Fort Lauderdale and was slated to go through Wilton Manors, Fla.. a small suburb.
Police identified the driver of the Dodge Ram pickup as 77-year-old Fred Johnson Jr. of Oakland Park. Killed in the accident was James Fahy of Fort Lauderdale, 75. Jerry Vroegh, 67, also of Fort Lauderdale injured and taken to Broward Health Medical Center where he was treated and released. All three were members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus. Gary Keating, founding director of the chorus, was treated for minor injuries.
The Pride parade was just getting underway when organizers motioned for a waiting pickup truck to take its place in the parade lineup. The driver of the truck then accelerated into a crowd of people, killing one man and injuring two others. Some witnesses — including Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Tantralis — believed at first that it was an intentional act of anti-LGBTQ violence, but others that same night noted that the driver of the truck as well as all three victims were members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus, and insisted that it had been a tragic accident.
Police said that the truck “accelerated unexpectedly” and hit the pedestrians before it continued across all lanes of traffic before coming to a stop in the Fort Lauderdale Garden Center.
— Tammye Nash
