A candlelight vigil was held in New Canaan Sunday in honor of George Floyd nearly one year since his death.

The vigil was hosted by Stand Together Against Racism at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.

Fatou Niang, the group's president, says the vigil remembers Floyd and all Black people killed this year. She says it also was in support of the fight against hate targeted at the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. 

"With George Floyd's murder, we thought that was the last name that was going to be added to the long list of African American men and women being senselessly murdered by the police brutality," Niang says. "And we realized since his passing, a whopping 180 others have died. Few had made the news, but in the silence not being in the limelight, it's still happening and that should not be."

Organizers say vigils like this are important reminders that police brutality still happens, even if people are not seeing it in their own communities.

They also say these vigils are especially important in towns such as New Canaan, which is predominantly white.