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Candlelight vigil Sunday afternoon in St. Louis for victims in New Zealand massacre

People of all faiths and backgrounds are encouraged to attend the gathering in University City.
Credit: Vincent Thian
Mourners lay flowers on a wall at the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019. New Zealand's stricken residents reached out to Muslims in their neighborhoods and around the country on Saturday, in a fierce determination to show kindness to a community in pain as a 28-year-old white supremacist stood silently before a judge, accused in mass shootings at two mosques that left dozens of people dead.

ST. LOUIS — There will be a candlelight vigil in University City Sunday afternoon to show support for the victims of the New Zealand mosque massacre.

The number of people killed in the shooting rose to 50 people Saturday.

The Missouri Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, better known as CAIR, is holding the gathering at 1 p.m. at the Market in the Loop (6655 Delmar Blvd.).

“We invite peoples of all faiths and backgrounds to stand with us in opposing violence and the hate that motivates it. As we have stood to defend our fellow community members in the face of xenophobia and bigotry, we appreciate the support from our interfaith partners in supporting the Muslim community,” said CAIR-MO Executive Director Faizan Syed.

For more information about the candlelight vigil, click here.

The suspect in the shootings, 28-year-old white supremacist Brenton Harrison Tarrant, appeared in court Saturday amid strict security, shackled and wearing all-white prison garb, and showed no emotion when the judge read him one murder charge and said more would likely follow.

Tarrant, the suspect, had posted a jumbled 74-page anti-immigrant manifesto online before the attacks and apparently used a helmet-mounted camera to broadcast live video of the slaughter.

This Associated Press contributed to this report.

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