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Hundreds took part in a vigil for victims of the New Zealand mosque shootings held at Oakland’s Lake Merritt Amphitheater on Monday evening. Lighting sage, Ohlone tribe member Corrina Gould opened the vigil with a prayer and speech, followed by Oakland City Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas and Rebecca Kaplan. Other speakers included Imam Zaid Shaker, of the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, and Ahmed Mohssem, of Christchurch, New Zealand, who now lives in the Bay Area.
Mohssem was emotional as he remembered people he knew who were victims of the March 15 attacks which killed 50 people and wounded at least another 50. An Australian white supremacist was taken into custody after the two separate shootings at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch.
The diverse crowd including everyone from children to the elderly, many of whom held signs denouncing Islamophobia and racism.