Berkeley students held a vigil organized by Muslim Student Association to honor the Chapel Hill victims.

Ivana Saric writes at the Daily Californian:

UC Berkeley groups host vigil to honor victims of UNC shooting

To honor the victims of a recent shooting at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, campus organizations came together to hold a vigil on Sproul Plaza on Thursday evening.

The vigil memorialized three Muslim students — Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha — who were shot and killed at their home Tuesday evening. 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks was charged with murder in connection with the shootings.

The event was organized by the political action committee of the Muslim Student Association, or MSA, in conjunction with other student groups such as Berkeley Hillel and Students for Justice in Palestine.

Approximately 200 students gathered on the steps of Sproul around 6 p.m., many greeting each other with hugs and words of assurance. The program began with a reading of verses from the Quran, followed by a video tribute from one of the victim’s friends.

Abdi Hassan, co-chair of the MSA, said that despite the event’s gravity, he hoped that the vigil would strengthen the campus community.

“This isn’t a Muslim-only tragedy,” he said. “This is a tragedy for college students everywhere. This affects all of us as students. This could have been any students from any community.”


 
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