Michelle reaches out to Sikhs, meets gurdwara firing victims
Saturday, 25/08/2012
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WASHINGTON: Consoling the grieving Sikh community, US First Lady Michelle Obama on Friday reached out to them as she met the families of the victims of the Oak Creek gurdwara shooting that left six worshippers dead. “It's my honour to be here with you,” she told the victims' families when she met them in private, away from the media glare, at Oak Creek High School.
US First Lady Michelle Obama greets Sikh temple board secretary Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal at Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
“I’m sorry it's under these circumstances, but I am anxious to meet with the families and lend whatever support I can,” said Michelle, who spent about 30 minutes with the families.
In addition, the family of police officer Lt Brian Murphy, who was shot more than eight times by white supremacist Wade Michael Page on August 5, met her in a separate room. The 40-year-old former US army specialist Page went on a rampage, killing six Sikh worshippers and wounding three.
After her visit, the Sikh community said in a statement that Michelle had “brought comfort and assurance during a period that has been marked with tremendous sorrow and grief ”. They said her visit goes a long way to assuage the feelings of hundreds of Sikh families across the nation.
Gurdwara secretary Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal and Oak Creek mayor Stephen Scaffidi greeted a somber first lady in a hallway of the school, where more than 3,000 mourners turned out this month for funeral of the six Sikhs. It is very nice of you to come and share our grief. This means a lot to all of us and helps the situation. We truly appreciate you to take time to visit all the affected families and convey your condolences and feelings,” Dhaliwal said. “The First lady was very gracious. She told me that ‘please let me know if I can do anything to help’.”
Families began to line up in t he hallway outsi de t he gym about 20 minutes before Michelle's visit.
