Wolf Orders Flags Lowered In Honor Of Paris Victims
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - Gov. Tom Wolf is ordering that Pennsylvania and U.S. flags on state facilities be lowered to half-staff for the victims of Friday night's terror attacks in Paris.
Wolf also said Monday that the front facade of the Capitol building is being lit up at night with the red, white and blue tricolor stripes of France's national flag. The flags will remain at half-staff until sunset Thursday.
Wolf also says the Pennsylvania State Police are taking extra security measures, including Sunday's Steelers and Eagles games.
At least 129 people were killed in the coordinated attacks across Paris on Friday.
One of the victims was a former intern with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
François-Xavier Prévost, 29, was inside the Bataclan theater when gunmen opened fire.
"Prévost spent the summer of 2009 in Pittsburgh as part of an exchange program while studying for a degree in international commerce and negotiations in Dunkirk, France. He worked with Hounds director Jason Kutney on designing layouts for a soccer-specific stadium for the team. Prévost initiated contact with Seating Solutions, the company that helped to design what ended up becoming Highmark Stadium," the Riverhounds said in a statement. "We offer our deepest condolences and sympathies to Prévost's family and friends, and to everyone affected by the attacks."
Meanwhile, Wolf says his administration will continue to work with the federal government to properly screen and resettle Syrian refugees in Pennsylvania.
Wolf, a Democrat, said Monday that the federal government believes it can handle an additional 10,000 refugees that the White House said in September that it would accept from Syria.
Wolf says Pennsylvania has a rich, multi-century tradition of accepting immigrants and that that should continue.
Texas and Alabama governors are refusing to allow Syrian refugees to relocate in their states following the Paris terrorist attacks Friday night.
Michigan's governor is postponing efforts to accept Syrian refugees until federal officials review security procedures. Louisiana's governor wants more information about how Syrians are resettled in his state.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto also says he will welcome more Syrian refugees to the area.
"A place where they can escape the hell that they live in, to take care of themselves, and their families, and a time like this we can no longer close our hearts or our doors," Peduto said.
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