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Vigils are being planned across the country for Thursday night in response to recent incidents of alleged police brutality. Organized as part of the National Moment of Silence (#NMOS14), ceremonies will be held in over 50 cities across 30 states, organizers said on Tuesday.

The movement is being coordinated by Feminista Jones, a black writer, activist and social worker, who initially spread the idea on Twitter — to her nearly 30,000 followers — to organize an event to memorialize recent incidents, including the deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Missouri.

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“I wanted to have a moment where we could get together as human beings and citizens of this country and honor the people who died and take a moment to settle down,” Jones told NBC News on Tuesday.

The vigils, Jones said, will be geared toward providing people an opportunity to reflect on recent the deaths and also signing petitions calling for legislation aimed at investigating police brutality.

IN-DEPTH

SOCIAL

30 States 54 Vigils ...and counting (in 2 days) #NMOS14 — #NMOS14 (@FeministaJones) August 12, 2014

#STL #Ferguson this is where #NMOS14 will be! Two historic St. Louis landmarks providing a backdrop for our mourning. pic.twitter.com/JDEIftJNTu — Chloe #NMOS14 #STL (@TheMegaChloe) August 12, 2014

— Jacob Passy