Carolyn Thompson and Aaron Morrison, Associated Press Posted Thursday, May 19, 2022, 10:14 AM EDT Last Updated on Thursday, May 19, 2022, 9:47 PM EDT
BUFALO, New York (AP) – Relatives of the 10 blacks killed in a Buffalo supermarket called on the nation on Thursday to stand up and stop racist violence, their agony pouring into the tears of a 12-year-old child, hours after white a man accused of murder silently stood trial for murder.
Jacques Jake Patterson, who lost his father, covered his face with his hands while his mother spoke at a news conference. When he finished, Jake slipped into the arms of Rev. Al Sharpton, the veteran civil rights activist, and wept silently, using his T-shirt to wipe away his tears.
“His heart is broken,” said his mother, Tirza Patterson, adding that her son had trouble sleeping and eating.
“As a mother, what do I have to do to help him get through this?” She said.
Her ex-husband, Hayward Patterson, a 67-year-old church deacon, was shot dead Saturday at Tops Friendly Market. So was Robin Harris’s 86-year-old mother and best friend, Ruth Whitfield, on a day when they had to go watch the Broadway touring show “Ain’t Too Proud.”
“This young racist man took my mother away,” Harris said, shivering and stamping his feet as he spoke.
“How dare you!” Harris shouted.
“I need this violence to stop,” she added. “We have to fix this and we have to fix it now.”
Earlier in the day, in another part of the city, accused gunman Peyton Hendron, 18, briefly appeared in court to hear he was charged with murder.
“Peyton, you’re a coward!” Shouted someone from the courtroom gallery as they led him away.
Gendron, whose lawyer pleaded not guilty to earlier in court, did not speak. His lawyers later declined to comment. He was detained without bail and must return to court on June 9.
Authorities are investigating allegations of hate and terrorism charges against Hendron, who apparently described in detail his plans for the attack and his racist motivation in hundreds of pages of writings he published online shortly before the shooting. It was broadcast live from a helmet-mounted camera.
“We must hold accountable all those who have helped and encouraged hatred in this country,” Sharpton told a news conference in front of the Antiochian Baptist Church in Buffalo. A group of civil rights activists, the National Action Network, plans to cover the funeral expenses of those killed.
The massacre at the Tops supermarket was embarrassing even in a nation that is almost numb from mass shootings. A total of 13 people were shot, all but two Blacks. Gendron’s online writings say he planned the attack after being carried away by the white ideology he encountered online.
“I’m constantly thinking about what could have been done,” Mark Tally told a family news conference, holding a photo of his murdered mother, Geraldine Tally, 62. Her fiancé, who survived the shooting, saw her shot. said her son.
Failure to address the threat of white violence, Tali said, led to bloodshed last weekend.
“It’s like Marmot Day. We have seen this again and again, “he said.
Stephen Belongia, the FBI’s chief agent in Buffalo, told a briefing that the agents were still working to gather Hendron’s motives and how he came to his extremist views. Investigators are looking at online documents that include a private diary on the Discord chat platform.
The diary says Hendron planned his attack secretly, without outside help. Half an hour before opening fire, he invited a small group of people to see his writings, Discord said.
Fifteen Discord users accepted, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.
It was not clear how quickly these people saw what he wrote or whether anyone tried to warn the police.
New York Governor Katie Hochul has authorized Attorney General Leticia James to investigate whether the social media companies used by Gendron are responsible for “providing a platform for planning and promoting violence.”
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramagia said on Thursday that social media users can also play a role by speaking when they see people posting violent or threatening content.
“You have to drive these people out,” he told a briefing. “Expose those who spread these kinds of extreme views and let us eradicate them.”
There was another request at the Tirza Patterson family press conference.
“I need the village to help me raise and be here for my son,” she said, asking people to pray “God give us the strength to get through this.”
“We are the village,” chanted civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, encouraging family members of the other victims to join.
Associated Press authors Michael Hill of Albany, Matt O’Brien of Providence, Rhode Island and Jennifer Peltz of New York.
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