The longtime community activist and former Buffalo mayoral candidate calls for policy that addresses white supremacy.
Residents of Buffalo, New York, gathered at vigils Sunday to mourn the 10 people killed on Saturday, when a white supremacist wearing body armor and carrying an assault rifle opened fire on a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Of the 13 shoppers and store workers shot in the assault, 11 were Black. Buffalo resident Grady Lewis witnessed the shooting. GRADY LEWIS: I was standing right across the street, and I heard a shot. And I knew it wasn’t a firecracker. And I looked up, and all I seen is smoke and a guy just shooting, shooting across, in the parking lot. And then I seen the security guard run inside the store. And when he ran inside the store, the other guy bent down and was just shooting inside the store. And I heard like at least 20 shots inside the store. And I didn’t have a phone on me, so I was just yelling and screaming for people to call the police. And I looked over. I seen a woman on the ground. I seen a man on the ground. I see another woman on the ground behind the gate. AMY GOODMAN: Police are calling the massacre a domestic terror attack. They’ve arrested an 18-year-old suspect who reportedly live-streamed the massacre on the video streaming service Twitch. The site took the video down within minutes, but the footage continues to circulate among white supremacists online. The suspect left behind a racist manifesto that included a plan to target a mainly Black neighborhood. Investigators say he had researched the area and drove about 200 miles from his home in Conklin, New York, before arriving a day in advance to conduct reconnaissance. The manifesto heavily plagiarized a screed left behind by the white supremacist who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. The manifesto refers to the “Great Replacement,” a racist conspiracy theory promoted by far-right media figures like Tucker Carlson of Fox News and embraced by some Republicans, including New York Congressmember Elise Stefanik. Prosecutors say the shooter purchased the Bushmaster XM-15 semiautomatic rifle used in the assault lawfully from a licensed gun dealer in his hometown after he passed a background check. That’s despite the fact that the suspect previously threatened a mass shooting at his high school the year before. He allegedly modified the rifle to use high-capacity magazines that are banned in New York state. President Biden spoke from the White House Sunday as Buffalo mourned the attack. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We’re still gathering the facts, but already the Justice Department has stated publicly that it is investigating the matter as a hate crime, racially motivated act of white supremacy and violent extremism. As they do, we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America. Our hearts are heavy once again, but our resolve must never, ever waver. AMY GOODMAN: The White House says President Biden will visit Buffalo Tuesday to meet with victims’ families. Journalist Madison Carter’s tweet eulogizing one of the victims, Pearly Young, went viral. Carter wrote, quote, “Pearly Young, 77, was killed today in #Buffalo shopping for groceries. For 25 years she ran a pantry where every Saturday she fed people in Central Park. Every. Saturday. She loved singing, dancing, & being with family. She was a mother, grandma, & missionary. Gone too soon.” The other named victims are former Buffalo Police Lieutenant Aaron Salter, who was an off-duty guard; also killed were Ruth Whitfield, Katherine “Kat” Massey, Heyward Patterson, Celestine Chaney, Roberta Drury, Geraldine Talley, Andre MacNeil and Marcus Morrison. We now go to Buffalo, New York, where we’re joined by India Walton, former Buffalo mayoral candidate, longtime community activist, now a senior adviser for [special] projects for the Working Families Party and a senior strategic organizer with RootsAction.
