Metro Denver religious leaders condemned Friday’s mass shooting during a prayer service in two New Zealand mosques as area police worked to make sure area mosques were safe for worshippers.
“We can scarcely imagine the sounds of silence and introspection that come moments before prayer within a Mosque only to be shattered by the piercing sounds of semi-automatic gunfire,” Iman Jodeh, spokeswoman for the Colorado Muslim Society wrote in a Friday response to the New Zealand massacre.
Denver and Aurora police increased patrols of local mosques following the New Zealand shooting that killed 49 people.
“There was an attack in New Zealand and an increase in aggression against mosques around the world in recent years,” Officer Anthony Camacho, Aurora police spokesman, said when explaining why the extra patrols were needed.
Two Christchurch, New Zealand mosques were packed with worshippers for Friday prayers when gunmen opened fire. Police arrested three men and a woman and defused explosive devices, according to an Associated Press report. In addition to the dead, 20 people were seriously wounded, the report said.
A 28-year-old white Australian claimed responsibility for the shootings in a 74-page anti-immigrant manifesto, according to an Associated Press report. RELATED: Mass shootings at New Zealand mosques kill 49; 1 man charged
Aurora recently assigned a police officer to do regular patrols of places of worship, Camacho said.
“We will provide extra patrols of mosques this weekend so people can exercise their freedom to worship,” he said.
Colorado Muslims and leaders of other religious groups have condemned the terrorist attack.
Jodeh called the attack cowardly because the worshippers were in a “state of innocence and perfect vulnerability.”
“We send our heartfelt condolences and prayers to the families who have lost loved ones to such senseless violence. Muslim Americans stand steadfast with our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in condemning any and all forms of violence regardless of religion, color, race, ethnicity, or nationality,” Jodeh wrote in a Friday news release.
Rabbi Joseph Friedman reached out to leaders of the Masjid Abu Bakr on Parker Road to express his sadness and solidarity with the community. Friedman invited his congregation to attend Shabbat prayer service Friday at an Aurora mosque.
“It seems like just last week we were reeling from the tragedy in Pittsburgh when a white supremacist gunned down our brothers and sisters during Shabbat services. At that time, the Colorado Muslim community wrote a beautiful and supportive letter to the Jewish community of Colorado, expressing their solidarity with us,” Friedman wrote in a letter.
Elder Thomas T. Priday, the senior leader in metro Denver for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, wrote that members of the faith were praying for the families of the deceased and for their Muslim brothers and sisters in Colorado.
“We were deeply saddened to hear of the tragic loss of so many lives as a result of yesterday’s senseless attacks in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand,” Priday said.
The Colorado Muslim Society is hosting a community gathering at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Masjid Abu Bakr, 2017 South Parker Road to show solidarity with the New Zealand mosques and to call for peace.
