By Mona Austin
At the White House event marking the passage of the gun bill, the Safe Communities Act on Monday, Pres. Joe Biden was praised for his leadership by the son of a victim of the Buffalo mass shooting.
Vice President Kamala Harris introduced Garnell Whitfield, Jr., the son of Ruth Whitfield, the oldest victim in the Tops Friendly grocery store massacre. Mr. Whitfield read the names of the victims when he began. Whitfield told the vice president his mother is “dancing in heaven” knowing Harris was in attendance.
Mr. Whitfiled along with many others represented the families impacted by gun violence in high porfile cases across the country. Pres. Biden wore a red ribbon on his lapel to honor the the deceased. There were nearly 2,000 people in attendance the White House said.
Whitfield used his time at the podium to call out racism and domestic terroris, saying the country needed to do more. In the months since the tragedy in his town, the former fireman has been vocal about this need speaking at a hearing
"This new law will undoubtedly help and in some cases prevent future tragedies, but he stated.
The gunman who executed his mother and other had posted a racist manifesto online and specifically target the clostest Black zip code to his residence. He drove three hours to the Tops Friendly Market to kill Black people. He live streamed the racist murders.
“They [racism and domestic terrorism] are a leading threat to our homeland and way of life,” he said.
After speaking, Mr. Whitfield introduced President Biden, describing him as a God-chosen leader for "a time such as this.”
Biden, who was intregal in pushing the assault weapons ban when he was a Seantor vowed to ban assault weapons again and talked about how choldren should be allowed to grow up in a safe country. The president knows that more needs to be done and is makin an effrot to seize the moment to make even more progress on un reform.
"Now is the time to galvanize this movement, because that’s our duty to the people of this nation.
That’s what we owe those families in Buffalo, where a grocery store became a killing field.
It’s what we owe those families in Uvalde, where an elementary school became a killing field.
That’s what we owe those families in Highland Park, where, on July 4th, a parade became a killing field.
And that’s what we owe all those families represented here today and all over this country the past many years, across our schools, places of worship, workplaces, stores, music festivals, nightclubs, and so many other everyday places that have turned into killing fields. said that gun violence is the number one cause of death of children in the United States."