Tulsans Show Support For Muslim Neighbors After New Zealand Attacks

As Muslims in Tulsa gathered at the mosque for Friday prayer, outside, a group of support and love was gathering.

Friday, March 15th 2019, 8:29 pm

By: Jonathan Cooper

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Tulsans Show Support For Muslim Neighbors After New Zealand Attacks

As Muslims in Tulsa gathered at the mosque for Friday prayer, outside, a group of support and love was gathering after attacks left 49 dead in New Zealand.

Members of the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry held signs and gave hugs around 3 o'clock Friday afternoon.

“It’s just so sad that we keep having to do this over and over again,” said Aliye Shimi, Executive Director. “We had to do this for Charlotesville, we had to do it for Pittsburgh.”

On Thursday, Shimi was honored by the FBI for her community leadership and building bridges with the Muslim community.

“You’d be amazed at how just a little bit of conversation can help demystify the unknown, to put a face to that fear,” she said.

So, as Muslims left their service this afternoon, people of all faiths greeted them with words of support.

Yuda Yushendri was one of them.

"We just appreciate that the community, non-Muslim, here in Tulsa, supports us,” he said.

And while the attacks may have happened half a world away, Yushendri says terrorism effects everyone and now’s the time to come together.

A small police presence was also in the area to make sure everything ran smoothly.

Jonathan Cooper

Jonathan Cooper started at News On 6 in 2018 as the weekend evening anchor and moved to News On 6 at Noon in 2019. Now you can find Jonathan anchoring News On 6 at 4pm and News On 6 at 9pm on the Tulsa CW.

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