Say Their Names: Here are the Victims of the Buffalo Hate Crime Shooting

In yet another hate-filled, anti-Black, racist, mass shooting, Payton S. Gendron shot and killed ten Black New York residents who were shopping at a supermarket on a Saturday.

Tragedy hit yet again on Saturday, May 14, during a racially-motivated domestic terrorist attack in a Buffalo, N.Y. grocery store that led to the murder of ten people. The identified shooter, Payton S. Gendron, who cited the Christchurch gunman as his inspiration for carrying out the hate shooting, was quickly taken into custody after the attack on Saturday afternoon and is currently in jail. Although there is some comfort in knowing that Gendron is no longer free to continue his planned murder spree of Black Buffalo residents, his actions add to a long list of similar White supremacist attacks that have specifically targeted Blacks and the growing fear that many Black people face living America. However, we cannot allow the sensationalism of this heinous terrorist act to overshadow the life and legacy of those who lost their lives.

On Saturday, news broke that a mass shooting occurred at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. The number of victims killed swelled to a heart-breaking ten as the hours went by. We also learned that three others were wounded during the attack. New York authorities also revealed that the attack was racially motivated and intended to target Blacks specifically and was carried out by a heavily armed White male who fired a barrage of 50 shots outside and inside of Tops Friendly Market. But authorities had good reason to believe that this shooting was a well-thought-out planned attack against Black residents in the Buffalo area.

ABC News reported that the shooter, Payton S. Gendron, live-streamed the Saturday afternoon attack on social media and etched the names of previous mass shooters and racial epithets on the gun he allegedly used to carry out the attack. Gendron, wearing military fatigues, body armor, and a tactical helmet, shot four people in the supermarket’s parking lot just after 2:00 pm, three of which were fatal. He then proceeded to shoot nine additional people inside the store. Authorities also believed that Gendron planned to…