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Content warning: This email reflects on the events at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York on May 14, 2022. If this is too much to read, we understand. Take care of yourself and skip the rest of this email. Here are some mental health resources that you may find helpful. John, May 14th marks two years since the brutal shooting at a neighborhood grocery store in Buffalo, New York shocked the nation. The tragedy killed ten people, injured three more, and left behind a tremendous void that lingers on in the Buffalo community and beyond. Two years on, and it bears repeating: the shooting at the Tops Friendly Market was a white supremacist attack, enabled by a national climate of racist hatred and cascading systemic failures from loose gun laws to lax content moderation policies on social media. More people are killed by extremists using firearms than any other weapon, and hate crimes have continued to increase. Of the hate crimes reported between 2020 and 2022, over half targeted Black people, and hate crimes targeting Black children and teenagers rose 12% in 2021 and nearly 15% in 2022. Hate crimes and bias also increased against LGBTQ+, Hispanic, Jewish, and Muslim communities. This cannot continue to happen. This cycle of hate and violence must end now. It doesn’t have to be this way, John. No more lives need to be lost. To honor those who have already been taken away from their families and loved ones by hate-fueled gun violence, we demand action. We must call out the insidious ways that white supremacy and gun violence coalesce in attacks like this. We must make our leaders listen to us and hold them accountable when they stand by in the face of hate. We need to address firearm access by raising the bar for responsible gun ownership and purchasing in America to prevent hate-driven people from accessing a firearm in the first place. We won’t stop organizing, marching, and pushing for this until no other community has to go through this heartbreak again. Onwards, March For Our Lives Today and every day we honor the lives lost in Buffalo on May 14, 2022.
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