Fourth Anniversary of the Tops Supermarket Shooting in Buffalo, New York

Floor Speech

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Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand alongside my colleague Congressman Tim Kennedy to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Tops supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York.

Ten people, ten loved ones, ten members of a community left home to run errands on what should have been a normal day. They showed up to Tops to buy groceries for their families. Like most of us, this was one of the last places they would ever think that they would be in danger.

That day, a white supremacist walked into a Tops supermarket and turned an average store on a day into a site of terror. This was racial terrorism. The shooter was radicalized by white supremacists on the internet to the point he livestreamed the attack.

It gets to the point where our Nation continues to see history repeat itself because we refuse to learn from the past.

Across the aisle, people refuse to accept that an 18 year old should not have access to a military grade firearm. They refuse to accept that when white supremacy is allowed and normalized on the internet, the consequences are devastating.

Buffalo is a painful reminder of the racism and gun violence crisis affecting all of our Nation. We are at the point where families live with the sound of gunshots as background noise and children are taught lockdown drills in school before they fully understand and learn algebra.

The worst part of it all is that our Nation has started to treat this like it is normal, like there is nothing we can do about it.

We cannot keep treating it like an inevitable part of American life, but if we only commemorate and remember names and cities without actions, we are disrespecting the families who wake up with the trauma of losing their loved ones every day. Thoughts without policy are not enough. The families in Buffalo should not have to watch us commemorate this tragedy year after year without meaningful change.

Tonight, we honor the victims of Buffalo. We stand with Congressman Kennedy who is their voice here. We mourn with their families. We condemn white supremacy and racially motivated violence that is showing its face far too often.

Mr. KENNEDY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman McIver and all of my colleagues that have joined me here this evening.

The western New York community, the national community was impacted in a gut-wrenching way on May 14, 2022.

I vividly remember the minutes, hours, and days after the shooting. As it occurred, I was with my family out of town when I received a call from Zeneta Everhart, then my director of diversity, equity, and inclusion in my New York State Senate office, who is now president pro tempore of the Buffalo Common Council, representing the Masten District.

She herself had just received the most awful phone call any parent can imagine. Her only child, Zaire, an employee at Tops, called her screaming and crying. ``Mom, Mom, I have been shot.''

Zaire had been doing what any parent would want their child to be doing: He was helping an elderly customer load her groceries into her car. That is when the first shots were fired in the parking lot.

Zaire was shot and went to the ground, unable to get himself up, and in that moment, finding the courage and strength in being able to remove himself from the situation and run for help.

Time stood still. Nothing prepares a parent for that call and nothing prepares a friend on how to best be there to provide comfort and support. Zaire was the only Black person shot that day who survived. By the grace of God he survived.

He had been hit in the neck and the shoulder with a hollow point bullet shot by an AR-15 rifle. He is now alive and thriving, giving all glory to God, but the physical and emotional scars will live with him and his family forever.

Frantic phone calls to friends, family, colleagues in government, and law enforcement followed for me as we struggled to understand what had happened.

I immediately got into my car, left my family, and drove 5 hours back to Buffalo. I had to see my friend. I had to be with our community, and I had to make sure that she and they knew that they had the support of our entire community every step of the way.

When I arrived back to Buffalo to be with Zeneta and our neighbors as we processed the gravity of what had just occurred, our whole city was going through the same process, feeling an excruciating combination of emotions: despair, heartbreak, rage, anger, confusion, but also resolve.

In the face of one of the most unimaginable tragedies and hardships that the City of Good Neighbors, Buffalo, New York, had ever experienced, we received support not just from each other but statewide, nationally, and even internationally.

We saw an almost immediate call to action to enact gun violence prevention legislation at the State level in the New York State legislature just days later. It was legislation that I was incredibly proud to help craft and pass.

We demanded action federally, including when I joined Zeneta here on the Hill as she testified before the House, along with the son of Ruth Whitfield, another victim, former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, and the families of the victims of the Uvalde massacre, which spurred the first Federal gun violence action in decades.

We saw a devastated community finding the resolve to come together as one with compassion, solidarity, and resilience. We met hatred and evil with love and friendship because love always conquers hate.

There were food donations for a neighborhood that was reeling and had lost its only supermarket. World Central Kitchen was on the ground within days, ensuring that a grieving community could break bread together over a hot meal and begin to process the trauma they had endured.

We had visits from President Biden and Vice President Harris, reminding us that an entire nation stood by our side. We saw memorials sprout up almost immediately, a raw display of the pain that we felt. We saw the creation of a 5/14 Memorial Foundation and Living Memorial and Healing Center, dedicated to honoring the lives of those lost and supporting the victims' families.

As we buried our 10 neighbors, we honored each of them for the lives that they lived. We committed to ourselves that their memories would not be forgotten and that their legacies would live on.

I personally promised each family at every funeral that their loved ones would not die in vain, that their memories would spur us as a community and, ultimately, as a nation into action to prevent further tragedies like this from occurring.

Under Councilwoman Everhart's leadership, Buffalo has established an Office of Gun Violence Prevention, showing that even in the face of Federal inaction, communities can still take charge of their own future.

We continue to witness a never-ending pursuit of justice for the innocent victims who were gunned down.

Today, while the trauma for many still lingers, we are reminded of that resolve, the unwavering sense of community and dedication to one another, united in mourning but motivated by the shared desire to enact change. Part of that change, as mentioned by my colleagues, is enacting gun violence prevention legislation.

Mr. Speaker, in memory of Lieutenant Salter and his fellow victims who died on this day 4 years ago, I am proud to lead the Aaron Salter, Jr., Responsible Body Armor Possession Act. This bill, which I am proud to co-lead with Congresswoman Grace Meng, bans the sale and ownership of enhanced body armor--hard-shell, military-grade, rifle-resistant body armor that was used to carry out the Tops mass shooting. This is body armor that should only be in the hands of our military and law enforcement.

On 5/14, the terrorist acted in just 123 seconds to murder 10 innocent individuals and severely injure 3 others, all thanks to the enhanced body armor that protected him from Lieutenant Salter's shots and an assault rifle that allowed him to fire rapidly. No civilian should have access to military-grade body armor, equipment that is designed for war, not our streets.

The Lieutenant Aaron Salter, Jr., Responsible Body Armor Possession Act ensures that no civilian can possess military-grade body armor ever again--armor that has been used in mass shootings across the United States: Sutherland Springs, Texas; Aurora, Colorado; Boulder, Colorado; San Bernardino, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The list goes on and on and on.

Through this legislation, we can ensure that enhanced body armor never falls into the wrong hands again. With the support of 27 of my House Democratic cosponsors, currently, and growing, I call on the U.S. House of Representatives to pass this critical, commonsense legislation.

The legislation and our action must not end there. Gun violence legislation can help stop mass shootings. We have deep wounds in this country that we must work on together to heal. While gun violence legislation can help stop mass shootings, I believe, with every fiber of my being, that we cannot discuss May 14, 2022, without acknowledging the underlying cause--the scourge of white supremacy, a legacy of our Nation's original sin of slavery.

Before the advent of this Nation, families were torn apart and trafficked across the Atlantic in unimaginably torturous conditions to be sold to the highest bidder, treated like livestock. Making it all worse, it was legal. From the three-fifths compromise to the Fugitive Slave Act to the Dred Scott decision, an entire legal framework was set up to enforce white supremacy, and I am just scratching the surface.

Even after the Civil War, when slavery was abolished at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives, and despite the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, that legal framework continued under the guise of Jim Crow laws--grandfather clauses, poll taxes, literacy tests--all legal but deeply immoral.

It continued in the shadows through hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan. It took our country another century to pass the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Yet, still, that original sin remains.

It remains in the tacit racism we see through redlining and food deserts. It remains with the Supreme Court's evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, allowing States to break up communities of color and silence their voices. It remains with the vile concepts like the great replacement theory, often peddled by anti-American voices on the far right, including people in Congress whom we serve with today.

With the advent of social media, we have thrown gasoline on the fire, allowing this toxic worldview to spread even faster, with dire consequences.

That hatred led a man to plan this massacre in Buffalo 4 years ago. He purchased his weapon and body armor. He modified his rifle and purchased some of the deadliest ammunition available, crossing State lines. He researched his target, drove nearly 3 hours, and opened fire. He bears responsibility for his actions, and he will never see the light of day as a free man again.

We must raise our children to view their fellow human beings with dignity, with kindness, with empathy, and with acceptance. If we don't, then the list of hate-motivated shootings will continue to grow. More cities will be added to the list after Buffalo, El Paso, Pittsburgh, Charleston, and Orlando.

Nobody believes that we can legislate hatred away, but the policies advanced here in Washington have cascading effects across our country. When we allow communities of color to be silenced, we are strengthening hate. When we stick our heads in the sand and push forward a rose- colored version of our history and whitewash our history, we only enable bigotry to take root.

When we refuse to learn from the lessons of the past, we are dooming ourselves to a future filled with violence, and that is something we can control. It is something we can legislate. I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and from all political points of view to join us in this fight, or else this carnage will only continue.

Mr. Speaker, in honor of these beautiful souls, these wonderful and beautiful souls that were lost, I would like to read into the Congressional Record a little bit about each of them.

Lieutenant Aaron Salter, Jr., a hero and public servant who saved lives that day as he confronted the shooter without hesitation.

He was a loving husband, father, friend, and colleague to many over his years in public service. In his spare time, he was a musician. He took a keen interest in cars. He enjoyed taking trips with his family.

He will be remembered not just for the selflessly heroic actions he took that day to save lives but for the person he was and his contributions to our community.

His memory lives on in each of us as a shining example of citizenship, bravery, and love.

Andre Mackneil was at the supermarket on that fateful day to buy a surprise birthday cake for his 3-year-old son, Andre Mackneil, Jr. He never came home with his son's birthday cake.

Andre loved basketball, playing the guitar, writing poems, and listening to music. But most of all, he loved his family. He loved his children. He loved his siblings. He loved his grandchildren.

Today, 4 years later, Andre's loved ones are forced to reckon with grief every day as they navigate his absence.

Celestine Chaney was a devoted mother to her son, Wayne, a loving grandmother of six, and the youngest of four sisters. She was survived by her partner and fiance, Raymond Johnson.

A fighter in every sense of the word, she had beaten breast cancer and survived multiple brain aneurysms, odds that would have broken most.

But on a day like any other, while picking up ingredients for the strawberry shortcake she was making for her family, she was taken from this world far too soon.

Geraldine Talley, known as Gerri to her friends and family, was 62 years old. She was a devoted member of our community who worked at a nonprofit assisting people with mental illness and related substance abuse issues.

She loved to cook for her family and friends. She was at Tops on 5/14 shopping for a few ingredients for a weekly waterfront picnic with her fiance.

Gerri left behind her children, Genicia Smith and Mark Tally, Jr.; a stepdaughter, Marquish Jacobs; four siblings; and her beloved fiance, Gregory Allen.

Katherine Massey, known to many as Kat, was 72 years old. Kat worked for 40 years for Blue Cross Blue Shield and was always committed to the betterment of our community.

She was a longtime campaigner against gun violence, founding We Are Women Warriors with her friends Betty Jean Grant and Dr. Eva Doyle. She was a regular contributor to the Buffalo Challenger and The Buffalo Criterion.

Kat was also an active resident in Buffalo's Fruit Belt neighborhood, helping to form a block club and successfully fighting for the creation of a new public park on her home street of Cherry Street.

She is survived by her siblings and her nieces and nephews.

Heyward Patterson was 67 years old. He was in his truck waiting for a friend he drove to Tops to pick up groceries, something he often did for those in need.

A deeply devoted servant of God, Heyward was a deacon at the State Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Buffalo.

According to his fellow churchgoers, Deacon Patterson was often the first one to arrive and the last to leave. He helped open and close the church, clean, shovel, and he volunteered in every capacity, including in the church's soup kitchen.

He is survived by his three children, his beloved wife, as well as his parents, siblings, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Margus Morrison, a beloved and devoted father, built his life in Buffalo raising his children with his companion of 25 years, Regina Patterson, and serving as an aid for the Buffalo public schools.

Margus was just 52 years old when his life was stolen from us. He was known as a reliable and steady presence in our community who was always there when his loved ones needed him.

Margus' family and friends remember a kind and generous person whose sense of humor and unwavering support defined every moment they shared with him.

Pearl Young, was a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, and the devoted wife of Oliver Young, Jr.

A graduate of the University of Buffalo, Pearl served as a substitute teacher at Buffalo Public Schools for 20 years.

In her free time she was active with the Good Samaritan Church of God and Christ in Cheektowaga where she taught Sunday school and volunteered at the parish's food pantry.

She was the loving mother of James, Pamela, Damon and sister of Annie Ruth Winston and Jean Craig. She was a grandmother to 10 and a great- grandmother to 7.

Roberta Drury was 32 years old. She moved to Buffalo to help care for her brother who was recovering from his battle with leukemia. She was murdered while picking up groceries for him.

Robbie, as she was called growing up, was the kind soul defined by her unwavering love for family and a smile that was known to light up a room.

She was survived by her parents, her grandfather, her beloved siblings, as well as numerous aunts, uncles, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Ruth Whitfield was the mother of our community. Ruth Whitfield was 86 years old. She was a longtime parishioner at Durham Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church where she sang in the choir.

She was a devoted wife, caring for her husband and soulmate of 68 years, Garnell Whitfield.

Earlier that day on May 14, Ruth had visited her husband at the nursing home just as she had done every day and had made a stop at the grocery store on her way home.

She left behind her husband and their children along with nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and five great-great- grandchildren.

May all of their souls rest in peace. Our city, our State, our community, and our country mourn with them, but we are driven in their memory to do better for all of us and for future generations that we will never meet.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues for joining me here today to honor the souls that we lost on May 14, 2022, 4 years ago today.

I want to thank the Congressional Black Caucus and the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force for joining in as well in commemorating this fourth anniversary of the Tops Friendly Markets massacre.

Today, we honor the victims and their families, and we urge this body to pass meaningful gun violence prevention legislation to ensure we live in a country free from tragedies like 5/14.

May God bless their souls. May God bless all of us. May God bless the United States of America.

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