Community Members Hold Vigil for Victims of White Supremacist Massacre in Buffalo, New York

Yesterday, on May 14, a white 18-year-old man clad in body armor murdered 10 people and injured three in a Buffalo, New York Tops supermarket. All but two of the victims were Black. The gunman, Payton Gendron, is a self-described white supremacist who not only published a 180-page manifesto on 8chan but livestreamed the massacre as it unfolded on streaming website Twitch.

Gendron, who has reportedly said he was radicalized on 8chan while “bored,” traveled hours away from his home to a predominantly Black neighborhood to carry out the act of terror.

A year prior, Gendron was investigated by local law enforcement for threats of a shooting at his high school’s graduation for which it was reported that he received some counseling.

May 14 is a designated White Lives Matter “day of activism” which, for all intents and purposes, refers to white-perpetrated violence towards anyone viewed as the “other,” i.e. not white.

As of the time of publication, Gendron has been charged with 10 counts of First-degree murder and has plead not guilty ahead of a Felony hearing on May 19.

Eugene Community Holds Vigil

The morning after the terror attack, a handful of people gathered around 11 a.m. at the Free Speech Plaza in front of the county courthouse for a candlelight vigil. It lasted about an hour.

  • The cement fountain has been chalked with the names of the victims of the massacre and in big letters in the middle it says "solidarity."
  • Two people look down at their lighters and towards the out-of-frame candles below .
  • A row of candles sit on the halfwall in front of a former fountain. Two people hold lighters. One has a tiny flame coming out of it.
  • Two poople kneel close to the ground and use handheld BBQ lighters to try and light candles, placed in heart shape, on the cement below.

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1 Response

  1. June 1, 2022

    […] previous candlelight vigil at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza happened the day following the […]

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