About 300 people gathered at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Tampa on Friday night for a community prayer service and rally following this week's violence in Texas, Louisiana and Minnesota.
- Many in audience were Black Lives Matter supporters
- Audience discussed inviting police into communities to work on tensions
"We've seen this day coming for a long time in advance, and we're predicting that if we don't make the right decisions today, this will continue," Andrew Joseph said.
Many people in the audience were supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement.
They said they are grieving the deaths of five police officers in Dallas, but they don't want the deaths earlier in the week of two black men who were shot by police officers to be forgotten.
"I'm believing that justice will be served in the case in Dallas," said Deanna Joseph, "but I can't tell you that justice will be served in those other cases, and that's where the disconnect seems to be occurring."
Doniesha Sullivan said she's been crying all week. She said the violent events have left her fearful.
"I always see my dad laying on that ground. I always see my brother getting pulled over, and it makes it really difficult to come into situations like this with a clear mind and from an unbiased standpoint, because you immediately think that could have been me," Sullivan said.
The group said they're looking for answers and that having a conversation about racial disparity, police brutality and gun violence is a good place to start.
"We want our voice to be heard. We want people to listen. We want people to take action. We want change to come," Sullivan said.
Audience members talked about inviting police into black communities to work on ways to help interactions go smoother.