MINNEAPOLIS — Support for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting was front and center at weekend gay pride festivities in the Twin Cities.

Many groups in Sunday’s annual parade in Minneapolis held signs that read “Orlando Strong,” or something similar. A group dressed in white individually held the name and photo of each person killed in the Orlando mass shooting that took 49 lives in a gay nightclub two weeks ago.

Police squads and officers on bikes and on foot led the parade and were present in what the Minneapolis Police Department said was an “unprecedented level.”

According to a press release, private security guards were stationed in the skyway above the parade route. Last year, people could gather on the skyway bridge to watch the parade, but not this year.