Vigil In Dorchester Calls For Unity After Night Of Riots

BOSTON (CBS) – About three dozen people gathered near Dorchester's Grove Hall Monday after a night of riots and chaos in Boston.

"It seems as though it has come to a head," said Reverend Joseph Rocha of the Greatest Church Foundations.

Those who participated kneeled for nine minutes to honor the life of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who was killed after being pinned by a police officer.

"When an officer can put his knee on a young man's neck and be so arrogant about it... when someone is crying out 'I can't breathe.' But you didn't care. It's just one of us that you're trying to get rid of. We're tired of it," said Mount Sinai Baptist Church's Pastor Eduardo Yarde.

After seeing the night of unrest in Boston, businesses near Grove Hall began boarding up their storefronts as a precaution, but event organizers say this was meant to unify.

"We don't add anything if we have looting and destruction of property and injuries to people," said Rev. Rocha. "Those are mostly outsiders."

Religious leaders from "Prophetic Resistance Boston" say the events seem like history repeating itself.

"The last time I saw something like last night in Boston was when Martin Luther King had gotten killed and they rioted in Grove Hall. I was just a teenager then," said one reverend. "It took years to bring Grove Hall back to what it is now."

Their hope is to bring people together through prayer and song – at a time when we need it most.