Washington vigil runs into tension with some protesters as church leaders offer prayer, solidarity

[LiberalArkie]

[Episcopal News Service] By all accounts, an ecumenical prayer vigil organized by the Diocese of Washington didn’t go as planned June 3. A White House security perimeter forced the event north of its intended site on the grounds of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square. And with news cameras trained on the vigil’s organizers, some protesters complained that undue attention was being drawn to clergy leaders rather than to the cause that the clergy were supporting.

Those circumstances scrambled plans for a vigil, but participants still were able to pray.

In the street just north of St. John’s, standing in front of a line of police in riot gear, they offered a prayer of solidarity. Washington Bishop Mariann Budde, joined by fellow Episcopalians and leaders from other Christian denominations, as well as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, prayed in support of peaceful protests against racial injustice and police brutality that have swept the country and spread worldwide since the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while in police custody.

Floyd, 46, died May 25 after being pinned to the ground by police for nearly nine minutes with an officer’s knee to his neck in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since then, The Episcopal Church has amplified its calls to end systemic racism, as clergy and lay leaders have joined other Americans in expressing outrage at the number of people of color killed by police and white vigilantes.

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https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2020/06/03/vigil-planned-at-washingtons-st-johns-in-solidarity-with-protests-after-trump-visit-sparks-outrage/