Suspicious package interrupts prayer vigil for Afghan refugees

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) - A rally advocating for the reinstatement of temporary protected status for Afghan refugees encountered an unexpected challenge due to a suspicious package investigation right outside the Neal Smith Federal Building in downtown Des Moines on Wednesday, KCCI reports .

An unidentified man at the rally left a package on a nearby ledge, leading to the involvement of K-9 crews, the bomb squad and local police officers.

his investigation temporarily closed Walnut Street, disrupting the rally organized by the Grinnell United Methodist Church group Love Them as Yourself at Cowles Commons.

Sgt. Paul Parizek, the Des Moines Police Department’s public information officer, stated, “We shut down the street, deployed our bomb squad just out of an abundance of caution, and,