A local nonprofit organization has scheduled an interfaith prayer vigil to mourn the lives lost in a recent spate of shootings that left civilians and police officers dead and has again fomented racial tensions across the country.
Stewards of Prophetic, Hopeful, Intentional Action will hold the vigil at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14 near the nonprofit's downtown Waukesha office at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 100 E. Broadway St.
The vigil is being held to lament the recent shooting deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile — two black men shot and killed by police last week — and five Dallas-area law enforcement officers, who were killed during a protest about the Sterling and Castile killings.
'SOPHIA calls for our community to unite to mourn the loss of lives in Baton Rouge, St. Paul and Dallas, and commit to the work of ending structural racism and the violence that it fosters,' a news release about the vigil said.
Sterling was killed outside a gas station in Baton Rouge and Castile was killed during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, near the Twin Cities.
SOPHIA is a Waukesha-based nonprofit dedicated to social justice and organizing individuals, agencies and public officials to stimulate creative and effective efforts to improve Waukesha County communities, according to the nonprofit's website.
According to the release, the vigil will be 'a service of prayers for those in our community and our country who put their lives on the line to protect us and for those who suffer from acts of racial prejudice and profiling.'
The vigil comes on the heels of a July 9 protest in Wauwatosa, regarding the shooting death of Jay Anderson, that sought to address similar issues.
Anderson, 25, a black man, was shot and killed June 23 inside his car at Madison Park in Wauwatosa.