Prayer vigil asks for protection for law enforcement, comfort for grieving families
Jul. 28—A prayer vigil in downtown Bakersfield Tuesday evening brought together more than 100 people, Kern County Sheriff's deputies among them, calling for God's protection of law enforcement officers, and comfort for their families, following the violent tragedy that claimed five lives Sunday in Wasco.
Raising their voices in support of law enforcement, local political and faith leaders gathered at the Liberty Bell plaza along Truxtun Avenue honored the sacrifice of Deputy Phillip Campas and asked, too, that God look after the surviving family members of the man who allegedly shot and killed two of his sons and their mother.
Organizer Angelo Frazier, a local pastor and volunteer chaplain of the Bakersfield Police Department, said he was inspired to convene the gathering after receiving a three-word text from a local law enforcement officer. It said, "I'm struggling, bro."
When news of Sunday's shootings spread, Frazier told Tuesday's crowd, he said the only thing to do was pray.
"Didn't matter if you were Democrat or Republican," he said, and proceeded to thank local leaders, law enforcement and first responders.
Frazier invited anyone so inclined to take a microphone and pray for two to three minutes. The first in line was state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield.
Grove asked those in attendance to remember the two daughters of Sunday's alleged gunman. She thanked God for being at Tuesday's gathering and asked for protection for law enforcement and gave thanks for the community's safety.
"We've all been touched by this, Father God," she said, her eyes closed in prayer.
When Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh took the mic, she said God is the mender of broken hearts. She asked the "God of all comfort" to "comfort the Campas family."
One prayer was delivered entirely in Punjabi by Gurinder Singh Basra, president of Sikh Riders of America. Before bowing his head, he said Kern needs to do more to support law enforcement.
Former Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks was in attendance and after taking the microphone said law enforcement alone cannot win the battle over crime — "The community can," he said. But in private comments before that, he said the potential for sudden death is "part of the job."
"This is what can happen to you when you put on the uniform," he said.
"There's a lot of cops talking to their wives and their children tonight telling them that this can happen," Sparks said. He also took a moment to praise Campas, saying it used to take 10 years at a minimum to join the sheriff's SWAT team, but that the fallen officer had accomplished it in five.
"This guy was squared away," he said.
Kern Law Enforcement Association Director Jeremy Storar called the vigil "another reflection of how great Kern County is" because of its appreciation for law enforcement.
The gathering touches family members of law enforcement who are now experiencing "their darkest days," he said.
"These moments are small but huge at the same time," he said before thanking the community for coming together as it did at the vigil. "It's a wonderful thing."
