Sikhs open temple for local ceremony honoring Wisconsin victims

A special prayer ceremony in Colorado Springs honored the six people slain at a Wisconsin Sikh Temple on Sunday.

It was also an opportunity for the community to become more familiar with the world’s fifth largest religion.

“I’ve seen a lot of unity not only in our community but across the nation there have been thousands and thousands of vigils,” said Serene Singh who helped organize the event.

There are 750,000 Sikhs in the United States. Sikhs said they are often confused for Muslims because of their appearance.

One speaker said moving forward they would like to communicate with their neighbors in order to educate the public about the Sikh religion.

“I have seen outside of school a lot of people confused at my fathers’ turban or my brother’s headgear because they don’t see it but whenever that happens I wish everyone would just come up and say, “What’s going on here? Can you just explain it?” asked Singh.

The ceremony drew members of the Jewish and Catholic community.

CORRECTION: During our 10pm newscast, Felicia Spirio should have been identified as a member of Temple Beit Torah. NewsChannel 13 apologizes for the error.