WASHINGTON — Local residents gathered at vigils throughout the District on Sunday to honor the 11 victims of Saturday’s Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
A diverse group of mourners gathered outside the White House gates in Lafayette Square, humming a wordless melody that one attendee said was “for times when words fail us.”
First-devastation. Now there’s also resolve for solidarity after Saturday’s deadly shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Somber rally outside the White House in honor of those killed and wounded in yesterday’s shooting. @WTOP@bend_thearc pic.twitter.com/Qkg6UzZIE1
— Liz Anderson (@PlanetNoun) October 28, 2018
The gathering was a call for solidarity for “all people who are committed to a country that respects freedom and dignity,” said Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. “We want everyone in and we want the bigotry out.”
A Jewish prayer service was held Sunday evening in DuPont Circle to honor the victims. Gatherers filled half circle on one side of the fountain, spilling onto the grass. The service included prayers, songs and a reading of each victims’ name.
Dupont Circle, DC. Candles lit, and a stone set under the fountain for each of the lost. #SynagogueShooting pic.twitter.com/DCwYK9hZi9
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) October 28, 2018
Rabbi Joseph Berman, of the New Synagogue Project, said he thinks the shooting wasn’t the result of one hateful person.
“It is because there are people in positions of power who are spouting and fueling white nationalism and white supremacy, and they are egging people on,” Berman said.
Some gatherers used the prayer service as an opportunity to have a difficult discussion.
“My kids are too young to understand this,” said Hilary Klein, who brought her 3-year-old twins to the service. “I have been thinking a lot of, like, at what point do I talk to them about the Holocaust and our family tree that was wiped out in the Holocaust? But then these things continue today.”
The Pittsburgh shooting is believed to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.
