NEW YORK — Step up, or step down.
That’s the message that the son of the oldest shooting victim in last month’s massacre in a Buffalo supermarket sent Tuesday to lawmakers as he testified on domestic terrorism before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“You expect us to continue to just forgive and forget over and over again. And what are you doing?” said Garnell Whitfield Jr., whose 86-year-old mother, Ruth Whitfield, was among the 10 people killed by an 18-year-old gunman espousing racist views. “You’re elected to protect us, to protect our way of life.”
The deadly supermarket rampage was allegedly unleashed by a teenage gunman reportedly bent on killing Black people.
“Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and the domestic terrorism it inspires?” Whitfield asked. “If there is nothing then, respectfully, Senators ... you should yield your positions of authority and influence to others that are willing to lead on this issue.”
It is the first of two hearings taking place this week centered around the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, where 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers were gunned down by another 18-year-old.
Wednesday will see testimony from families of victims of the latter massacre, as well as survivors such as 10-year-old Miah Cerrillo, who smeared herself in her friend’s blood so she would look dead.
In both cities, shattered families exist in the wake of the carnage.
“My mother’s life mattered,” Whitfield said. “Your actions here will tell us if and how much it mattered to you.”
At a press conference after the hearing, Democratic lawmakers spoke of the need to quell racism and enact gun control legislation and promised to push through bills to make it happen.
“We all know that when racism is left to fester, it grows. Plain and simple,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., decrying the lack of Republican votes to even allow the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act to be discussed on the floor. “And we don’t really want thoughts and prayers. We need votes. We need action.”
He vowed to keep pushing against the deadly double scourge of racism and easy firearms access.
“I would just say we have a moral obligation to what we’re doing here and to continue what we’re going to do,” Schumer said.
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