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Prayer vigil responds to Dallas shootings

Mike Desmond/wbfo news

A group of local ministers held a vigil Sunday afternoon at Mount Olive Baptist Church on East Delavan. The event focused on last week's violence in which two black men were shot by police officers and  five police officers in Dallas were shot and killed.

     

The vigil was filled with music and the Gospel as preacher and after preacher called for God to take back the city's streets. Some say the nation is threatened when its population falls away from the Bible and God.

"The Psalmist says if the foundation be destroyed: What will the righteous do?," offered Bishop Michael Badger, who has a son who is a police officer.
            
"When people come to a point where they feel like they have no options, that is a scary place to be."
 

Reverend George Nicholas instructed the gathering to bring peace to their own surroundings.

"When you go home tonight, when you leave this place, I dare you, I dare you to walk up and down your streets and just praise God, up and down your streets," Nicholas said.

"For everybody that is crazy enough to do that, for everybody that's going either praise God or transform your street."

A large crowd gathered in the massive parking lot along East Delevan for the vigil, which was actually scheduled six weeks ago in response to the increasing gun violence in Buffalo. Last week's stunning scenes of violence across the nation brought a more urgent spirit to the event.

"Our young people have lost the true meaning of brotherly love," said Mount Olive Pastor William Gillison.

"Violence has become the order of the day and the blood of many are crying out for justice."

 

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.