WASHINGTON — A week ago, a lone gunman shot 13 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Ten of those people died, they were all Black.
On Saturday, a small group, many from Buffalo, gathered along Black Lives Matter Plaza in D.C. to pray for the families of the victims and their community. The group held a moment of silence.
Pastor Kip Banks from Southeast, D.C. led the prayer along Black Lives Matter Plaza in honor of the victims of the Buffalo shooting.
“We call to you Father God because we are upset. We call to you all God because we are angry,” he prayed.
That emotion has flowed through the bodies of so many people.
“We’re angry of the racism in this country. We’re angry God because of the death of 10 of your children at the hands of an evil white supremacist,” Pastor Banks added.
The small group gathered, reflecting on how their hometown of Buffalo is forever changed. Former Buffalo Councilman and New York State Senator, Antoine Thompson, brought them together.
“The only thing they did wrong, two things they did wrong, was being Black and going grocery shopping,” he said.
Many of the victims were friends of his. After the prayer, Thompson led a moment of silence for 123 seconds; the same length of time the shooter was in the store.
“Racism is a taught thing, you're not born to be racist. Black lives got to matter in America, especially just going grocery shopping,” Thompson said.
Having grown up just blocks away from the store, Beyshinah Woods was compelled to show her support for her hometown, praying for justice and change.
“For that to happen is just very upsetting. It's tragic, but we are going to rise above what that person stands for,” Woods said.
As they held hands, in the blistering heat, a chill came over them when the timer went off, realizing how long their friends and family were trapped inside a grocery store with a killer.
The reality looms that their family members and friends should still be alive.
“On behalf of the Black churches across the country, we are angry! We have said we're sick and tired of being sick and tired with this racial hatred and gun violence and it has to stop,” Pastor Banks said.
The first of several funerals for 10 Black people massacred at a Buffalo supermarket was planned for Friday.