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Racially charged domestic terrorism instilling fear in popular community gathering places

PITTSBURGH — Churches, grocery stores and any busy place where communities gather have become potential targets for racially charged domestic terrorism.

But how are the communities that experience this sort of violence impacted?

“There are people who are still afraid to come to our church,” said Pastor Michael Day, who oversees the Legacy International Worship Center.

In 2019, Pastor Day got a call from the FBI informing him his church, Legacy International Worship Center on the city’s North Side, was the target of a thwarted attack.

“It is still nerve-racking, shaking in my spirit to realize that I could be gone, my congregation could be gone,” said Day.

The FBI said the predominately Black congregation was targeted by a Syrian refugee looking to bomb a Nigerian congregation.

In 2018, the city was rocked when a gunman killed 11 people in a Jewish synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

“There are a lot of communities impacted by the racism that’s so prevalent in the United States,” said Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life.

Community after community has become a target of hatred. On Saturday 10 people were killed in Buffalo when a white gunman went on a grocery store shooting rampage.

“Look at the groups that are most affected by it. It’s the Jewish community, and it’s communities of color,” said Myers.

Then, on Sunday in California, the Orange County sheriff said a gunman motivated by hate for Taiwanese people killed one person and injured five others.

“The truth of the matter is we need to really dig into some real, hard conversations,” said Day.

There have been 198 mass shootings this year in the U.S., leaving communities impacted by violence struggling to heal and reimagining what’s next.

“On my massive list of ‘I Have a Dream’ is we won’t need to hire security anymore because people will have learned how to live together in peace,” said Myers.