Catholic Mass Calls For Peace After Milwaukee Demonstrations

More religious groups in Milwaukee are calling for peace, in light of protests earlier this week over the police shooting of an African-American man.

A few hundred people gathered Thursday night at All Saints Parish for music and prayer. They also were asked to reach out to others as a way to reduce violence. The Rev. Robert Stiefvater urged going beyond one’s circle of friends, “and go beyond those who ‘like’ us (on social media) or have ‘un-liked’ us … and communicate across.”

All Saints is a Catholic church located in a predominantly African-American neighborhood just a few miles from the area where protests were held. Parish member Kathy Smith said she’ll try to take the message of nonviolence back to the children who live on her block.

“You know, I just try to tell them that this is not the way,” Smith said. “You know that things are going to change, but we have to do the best we can. We can’t say that’s bad and then we do bad things.”

Smith said she believes that improving police-community relations won’t be fast or easy. She calls it a “process.”

The protests related to last weekend’s police shooting have died down, but community groups say they still want the Wisconsin Department of Justice to release the police body camera video that reportedly shows the confrontation between the officer and Sylville Smith, who police said was carrying a handgun while being chased on foot, following a traffic stop.