The city of Buffalo remembered a racist shooting that killed 10 Black people with the opening of a memorial space for the victims.
In front of the Tops supermarket, there is a sculpture called “Unity” that honors the people who died in the attack. It has large purple metal pillars to represent each person who was killed. Three golden pillars stand for the people who were injured.
The sculpture made by Buffalo artist Valeria Cray and her son, Hiram Cray, is in the new 5/14 Tops Honor Space. It’s like a small park with benches, pillars, and gardens.
“It’s still really upsetting,” said Lisa Kragbe from Buffalo as she sat on a bench in the Honor Space before a ceremony with city, state, and federal officials. She said it’s still hard for people to go into the store, even though it was fixed up after the attack.
Payton Gendron, a white person, is in prison for life with no chance of getting out. This is because he admitted to killing someone and carrying out a hate crime. Gendron was 18 years old when he recorded a livestream of the shooting after driving for three hours from his home in Conklin, New York. He might get the death penalty if he is found guilty of federal hate crimes. He said he did not do the crime in that case.
The Honor space has a pear tree that was given to Buffalo as a gift from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s Survivor Tree Seedling Program. Young trees grown from a tree found in the rubble of the World Trade Center after 9/11 are given to communities that show the same strong and resilient characteristics as the original tree.
A bigger memorial for the victims will be built away from the current site.
Date:
Buffalo city dedicates a park-like area to victims two years after racist mass shooting
