President Biden, First Lady to visit Buffalo Tuesday
United States President, Joe Biden, and First Lady Jill Biden have scheduled a visit to Buffalo, New York.
The visit slated for Tuesday May 17, 2022, is aimed to sympathize with the mourning community that lost lives in “a senseless and horrific mass shooting”.
According to a report, ten people were killed and three injured on Saturday in what officials are calling a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism.
The suspect, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, was arraigned Saturday on a charge of murder in the first degree, the most severe murder charge under New York law. He pleaded not guilty.
Biden noted that he has been receiving updates from the White House, which is working with the Justice Department.
“We’re still gathering the facts; already the Justice Department has stated publicly and as investigating the matter as a hate crime, racially motivated act of white supremacy and violent extremism as they do,” Mr. Biden said.
“We must all work together to address the hate. The remains the stain on the soul of American hearts are heavy once again. What a resolve must never ever waver,” he added.
A White House official said Sunday that Mr. Biden had spoken to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is from Buffalo, and he had reached out to the city’s mayor, Byron Brown.
Brown reports on Sunday that the suspect, who is White, “came here here to take as many Black lives as possible.” Of the 13 victims, 11 were Black.
Authorities said the suspect, who was heavily armed and wearing tactical gear, got out of his vehicle at Buffalo’s Tops Friendly Market and shot four people in the parking lot, killing three of them.
