Como citizens are planning a Moment Against Violence Prayer Circle Monday, May 16 at 5:30 p.m. in the courtyard of the Como library.

Described as a “community-grown event” by Como librarian Alice Pierotti, the prayer circle is in response to the recent murders of Tommy “Burnside” Walton in Como and Ira Phillips in Como.

“Not to say there haven’t been murders in the county,” The Southern Reporter writer Donna Taylor stated in her “Dark Side” column published May 12, “but the magnitude and callousness of how these two young men were cut down in the prime of their lives is quite disturbing. The violence is escalating to epidemic proportions,” Taylor added.

“Think about this,” Pierotti states in a poster promoting attendance for the Moment of Violence, “What is your dream for: yourself, your family, your community, your country, your world?”