New York Announces Plan to Erect Permanent Memorial to Buffalo Massacre Victims

Planning is about to get underway for a memorial to honor the victims of Buffalo's supermarket shooting -- a white supremacist terror attack that claimed 10 lives at a Tops Friendly Market in May.

On Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul joined Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown to announce the formation of the May 14th Memorial Commission.

"The May 14th Memorial Commission will create a lasting reminder of the losses we experienced that awful day. While we combat racism in all forms and work towards a future where hatred and bigotry are a thing of the past, the Commission, led by Reverend Mark Blue and supported by partners like Mayor Brown, will have a leading role in uplifting the East Buffalo community," Hochul said.

The commission will oversee and develop the plan to build a physical memorial in East Buffalo.

The memorial would honor the victims of the May 14 shooting: Pearl Young, Ruth Whitfield, Margus D. Morrison, Andre Mackniel, Aaron Salter Jr., Geraldine Talley, Katherine Massey, Roberta A. Drury, Heyward Patterson, and Celestine Chaney.

[SOURCE: NBC NEWS]

Attorney General Garland Announces Hate Crimes Charges Against Buffalo Mass Shooting Suspect

Following a meeting with families of the ten African Americans shot and killed at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo in May, Attorney General Merrick Garland announces that the Justice Department has charged 18-year-old Payton Gendron with 26 counts of hate crimes and weapons violations. The attorney general also provides details of the accused gunman's planning and execution of the attack.

Tops Supermarket shooter indicted on domestic terrorism & ten 1st degree murder charges

A grand jury on Wednesday charged the White 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket with domestic terrorism motivated by hate and 10 counts of first-degree murder. Payton Gendron, who has been in custody since the May 14 shooting, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Erie County Court.

The 25-count indictment also contains charges of murder and attempted murder as a hate crime and weapons possession.

The suspect had previously been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting, which also injured three people. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors told a judge May 20 the grand jury had voted to indict the suspect but was continuing its investigation.

Federal authorities also are investigating the possibility of hate crime charges against the suspect, who apparently detailed his plans and his racist motivation in hundreds of pages of writings he posted online shortly before the shooting.

[SOURCE: CBS NEWS]

Vice President Kamala Harris to attend funeral for Ruth Whitfield, victim of Buffalo massacre

Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will travel to Buffalo on Saturday to attend the funeral of Ruth Whitfield.

86-year-old Whitfield, died in the mass shooting at Tops on Jefferson Avenue on May 14. 10 people in total were killed and three others were injured.

Whitfield was the mother of former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield.

While in Buffalo, VP Harris and Second Gentleman Emhoff will also meet with the families of other victims.

[SOURCE WKBW]

Buffalo Bills Foundation and NFL Foundation contributing $400,000 to support response to Buffalo massacre

The Buffalo Bills Foundation and NFL Foundation are taking initial steps to help the Buffalo's East Side community heal in the wake of Saturday's targeted attack against the Black community.

The foundations are combining to donate $400,000 to support the community in the wake of this horrific hate crime.

A combined $200,0000 will go to the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund. This new fund is a collaborative philanthropic effort across the region that will address the immediate and long-term needs in our community, including systemic issues that have marginalized communities of color.

"On behalf of the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund, we are most grateful for the generous contributions from the Buffalo Bills Foundation and the National Football League Foundation that will allow us to create real change and emerge from the darkness of this heinous act," said Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. "This Fund is a partnership to build upon the collective desire to take action and to work together as a community to address immediate needs, long-term rebuilding and systemic issues that continue to marginalize communities of color."

The other $200,000 will be donated directly from the Buffalo Bills Foundation to various nonprofits working on the emergency response efforts to address the immediate needs of Buffalo's East Side residents. As an example of one of these efforts, we have partnered with Buffalo Go Green, African Heritage Food Co-op, the Resource Council of WNY, and UB Food Lab to arrange home food deliveries to those unable to come to a food distribution site.

This is just the beginning of the efforts of the Buffalo Bills and we are committed to doing more for the community as the days and weeks go by.

To find more ways to get involved and provide support to those in need in our community, click here.

Barack Obama statement on the Buffalo Massacre

Former President Barack Obama released the following statement on the Buffalo massacre in which 10 inncocent Black people were gunned down by an 18-year old white supremacist:

This weekend’s shootings in Buffalo offer a tragic reminder of the price we pay for refusing to curb the easy access to guns. It should also serve as a wakeup call for all Americans of goodwill, regardless of party.

We need to repudiate in the strongest terms the politicians and media figures who — whether for political gain or to boost ratings — have used their platforms to promote and normalize “replacement theory” and other starkly racist, anti-Semitic, and nativist conspiracy theories.

It’s despicable, it’s dangerous — and it needs to stop.