Tree Of Life Survivors Meet With South Carolina Church Shooting Survivors
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP/KDKA) -- Members of the Tree of Life Synagogue congregation where 11 people died in a mass shooting by an anti-Semitic gunman last fall have traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to worship with members of the church where nine black worshippers died in 2015 at the hands of a white supremacist.
The Post and Courier reports that members of the New Light Congregation of the Tree of Life Synagogue and members of the Emanuel AME Church worshipped together Friday and Sunday in Charleston.
The Pittsburgh group came to Charleston for the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend for a show of unity and celebration.
Nine people were killed during a Bible study class at the Emanuel AME Church in 2015, and just last October, 11 worshippers were shot and killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue.
"What people say creates action, when people say hateful things again and again, sooner or later, someone will do something, that's what happened in Charleston and in Pittsburgh," said Stephen Cohen, the president of the New Light Congregation.
The two congregations say they are now bound by their horrifying histories, but find comfort from each other.
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