Crime & Safety

Michelle Obama to Meet with Families of Temple Shooting Victims

First lady is expected to be in the Milwaukee area on Thursday in a move that national Sikh leader describes as "reassuring and heartening."

First Lady Michelle Obama is coming to the Milwaukee area on Thursday to meet with family members of the victims of the in Oak Creek.

Obama will meet with immediate family members of those who were killed and injured, a White House aide told Reuters News Service Saturday on the condition of anonymity.

It was unclear whether Obama would visit Oak Creek or the temple while she's here, or whether she'll meet with Oak Creek police Lt. Brian Murphy, who was one of four people injured in the Aug. 5 shootings. Murphy remains hospitalized and .

Find out what's happening in Oak Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Obama also will attend a campaign event while in town.

Gunman Wade Michael Page opened fire during a Sunday service at the , killing six people before taking his own life.

Find out what's happening in Oak Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rajwant Singh, the chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, told Reuters it was critical that U.S. leaders reach out to the Sikh families in Wisconsin and to the Sikh community.

"A visit by the first lady will be reassuring and heartening and it will be a powerful symbol of President Obama embracing the Sikhs at this serious juncture," he said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

A member of President Barack Obama's cabinet, Attorney General Eric Holder, was in Oak Creek on Aug. 10 for for the victims at .

on the day of the shootings to offer his condolences to the city, but has not visited the city since the shootings.

In fact, the son of temple President Satwant Singh Kaleka, who was among those killed, publicly criticized the president for not doing more to support those affected by the tragedy.

"He’s never called the victim's families, not even the board that my father led before he died," the New York Observer quoted Amardeep Kaleka as saying.


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