London Vigil March 23rd - Getty - H 2017
Jack Taylor/GettySeveral thousand people have gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square for a candlelit vigil to honor the victims and their families and to show London’s unity in the face of militant attacks.
Dignitaries, police and clergy, including Buddhist monks in brown robes, gathered on the steps leading to the National Gallery. There was a strong sense of solidarity and camaraderie, with Muslims mingling with Jews and people stopping to thank the police for their work. After speeches and a minute’s silence — the crowd was so quiet that Big Ben could be heard chiming in the distance — the home secretary, mayor and acting police commissioner lit the three oversized candles to applause from the crowd.
Sughra Ahmed, a Muslim woman who traveled from northwest England for the vigil, said she’d been reduced to tears on the square by a woman who went out of her way to embrace her.
“Britain is one,” she said. “An attack on one is an attack on us all.”
