Attendees light candles and place them near the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on the 10th anniversary of a mass shooting that killed seven members of the community Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Kamal Kaur was 11 years old when her father, Sita Singh, was killed in the shooting. “I don’t want you to think of me just today,” she told the crowd. “I want you to think of me every single day, because I’m hurting every single day.”
After hearing from the victims’ family members, political officials and religious leaders, attendees placed candles near the front door in remembrance.
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Priests at the temple, or gurdwara, are performing a 48-hour continuous prayer service to honor those who died on Aug. 5, 2012, when a white supremacist gunman entered the temple as its Sunday morning services were beginning.
The temple is holding educational events for the public around the anniversary, and Sikh temples across the country are performing community service this weekend in honor of those who died a decade ago. They say they also hope it will help call attention to the threat of white supremacist violence and the need to support faith communities that can be vulnerable to terror attacks by extremists.
Family members of the mass shooting victims sit together during the vigil marking its 10th anniversary Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPRPhotographs of the mass shooting victims are displayed during a vigil Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPRGov. Tony Evers shakes hands with members of the Sikh Motorcycle Club at the vigil Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPRMen play music at the front of the vigil as attendees light candles in remembrance Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPRPardeep Kaleka and Gurvinder Singh light candles outside of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin during a vigil marking the 10th anniversary of a mass shooting Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Oak Creek, Wis. Both men lost family members during the tragedy. Angela Major/WPRAttendees light candles on the 10th anniversary of a mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPRFlowers are placed at the front of the vigil Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPRAttendees light candles and place them near the front of the temple Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPRCandles are placed to mark the 10th anniversary of a mass shooting which took the lives of seven Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPRAn attendee holds a candle during the vigil Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
