January 3, 2013

In mid-December, MPAC joined its interfaith allies on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall to remember the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and to denounce gun violence. More than 100 people gathered for the vigil with interfaith leaders offering prayers, two women sharing moving testimonies about losing loved ones to gun violence and the everyone standing together in a moment of silence. 

"We are here as one humanity. We stand here as fathers and mothers," said MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati, before reciting Surah Fatiha. "We need to help each other heal and move away from violence to peace." 

“As we continue to deal with the incredible grief and the profound sense of vulnerability in the aftermath of this tragedy, we also remember that we are not powerless, that we can and we must work together to keep our streets and our schools safe," said Rabbi Sharon Brous, spiritual leader of IKAR.

Participants carried signs that read ”Love people not guns,” "Grief compassion action" and “stop gun violence." Others carried candles.

Twenty pairs of children shoes were lined up in a row, one for each of the children killed in the Dec. 14 massacre.

The Rev. Dr. Ryan Bell, Pastor of the Hollywood Adventist Church, also read a statement from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) about ending gun violence. 

"This is a time for mourning and prayer and action. The gun violence that ravished our community cannot go on."

The Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative, which is comprised of social justice groups from all three Abrahamic faiths, and LA Voice, a citywide coalition of faith leaders, families and communities, organized the vigil.

“People, families especially, need to be educated about the risk of having a gun that’s accessible … and the other part is legislative, “ said Virginia Classick, a member of the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative, during an interview with the Jewish Journal. “There is reasonable, sensible gun control legislation that does not infringe with the rights of people who are able, if they choose, to own a gun.”