Following a calm night in Sherman Park, Gov. Scott Walker says he's cautiously optimistic that will continue.
He spoke to members of the faith-based community Tuesday, praising them for their work to maintain peace.
Darnell Robinson has lived in Sherman Park for 20 years and is a pastor at Harvest Covenant Church in the neighborhood.
He says he works mostly with youth and that he could feel their pain after the events of this weekend.
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"As they breathed out all the contention, all the tension to someone who's listening, authentically listening, I think that helped settle things within the crowd and the community," he said.
About 100 pastors and religious leaders met near the BP gas station Monday night to pray for the neighborhood, including City Brook Church Pastor Peter Borg.
"It's an encouragement to people who feel disenfranchised that there are people who care," said Borg. "Particularly it's an encouragement when white people show up because for 400 years, even the church has ignored problems of racism in America."
In meetings with the pastors, Gov. Scott Walker said their influence Monday night helped maintain a calm atmosphere.
"I think the fact that they were able to talk and show that they were praying for that family and the neighborhood and others goes a long way towards not only keeping the calm last night but restoring the peace and a sense of respect for everybody involved," he said.
The pastors also said they realized that their churches need to stop operating individually and instead they want to build a network to work together in bringing peace back to Sherman Park.
"I think people want to do something, they're not sure what to do or where to land," said City Brook Pastor Tyler Loomis. "This has given people a place to land. Now we just hope that this will continue, it won't just be a ground swell that suddenly disappears in six weeks."
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