LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other civic and religious leaders took part in a silent prayer on the steps of City Hall today for victims of the Boston bombings.
“We’ve demonstrated here in Los Angeles we will not live in fear,” Villaraigosa said.
The mayor was accompanied at the midday event by such religious leaders as Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Nirinjan Singh Khalsa of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, as well as Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck.
“The strength of this community is in its diversity,” Beck said.
Cooper said city officials deserve an “A” for respecting people’s rights to believe what they wish, “without fear or intimidation.”
Los Angeles residents “are very blessed,” the rabbi added.
While condemning the recent Boston bombings, Cooper warned that while the Internet “has given us our global village,” it has made bomb-making instructions easily accessible.
The officials held hands and bowed their heads in silent prayer for the Boston bombing victims as well as first responders.
Khalsa, representing the Sikh faith, said terrorists “want to create confusion (and) discrimination. If you want to fight these criminals, don’t attack your fellow Americans.”
