The family and friends of 86-year-old Ruth E. Whitfield paid visits and funeral services to a Buffalo church two weeks after police said a white supremacist killed Whitfield and nine others. Authorities say the gunman targeted the Tops Friendly Markets store because he was in a predominantly black neighborhood. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, met with Whitfield relatives before services, according to the White House, and spoke at the funeral.
“I can’t even begin to express our collective grief as a nation for what you are feeling in such an extreme way: not just losing someone you love, but through an act of extreme violence and hatred,” he said. tell Harris to the bad guys at Mt. Baptist Church of the Olive.
Harris, who was invited to speak by the Rev. Al Sharpton, pointed to a “hotline” through the mass shootings in Buffalo; Uvalde, Texas; Atlanta and Orlando, telling those gathered in Buffalo that today “is a time that requires all good people, all people who love God, to stand up and say,” We will not endure this; enough, we will meet. based on what we all know we have in common, and we will not let those people who are motivated by hatred separate us or make us feel afraid. “
“I’m here to say we’re all in this together; no one should ever be made to fight alone,” he said in closing. “We are stronger than those who want to hurt us think we are, we are strong. We are strong in our faith. We believe strongly in what is right and in our determination to act to make sure we protect everyone. “That we deserve to be protected, that we see all who deserve to be seen, that we hear the voice of the people and that we stand up in solidarity to speak out against and speak to our best angels.”
Whitfield had just left to visit her husband at a nursing home, a daily routine for eight years, when she stopped in Tops to buy groceries, her son Garnell Whitfield told CNN’s Omar Jimenez.
Garnell Whitfield said he had been trying to call his mother after learning of the shooting, but was unable to contact her. He passed by his house and then went to Tops where he found his car in the parking lot. Whitfield later learned that his mother was among the victims.
“Devastation, anger, hurt, disbelief, pain,” Whitfield said, describing his feelings that day. “She was the glue that held our family together.”
Whitfield said his family will not shy away from denouncing the suspect’s alleged motive.
“It’s white supremacy. It’s hate. It’s racism. It’s bigotry,” Whitfield said. “And we have to say it the way it is and stop flipping through the bush and grab it in the face because it’s proliferating. It doesn’t get better.”
Whitfield is survived by her 68-year-old husband, Garnell W. Whitfield Sr., her children, and numerous grandchildren. His services come after last week’s funeral for other victims.
Among them were Celestine Chaney, Roberta Drury, Andre Mackniel, Katherine Massey, Margus Morrison and Heyward Patterson.
Chaney was buried Tuesday and several family members spoke at her funeral. According to CNN WGRZ affiliate Chaney, 65, had survived three aneurysms and breast cancer, which inspired people to dress in pink in his honor.
“He was a very calm and sweet person and I think people should learn to be like that,” Chaney’s granddaughter Kayla Jones said at the funeral.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited the area in the early days of the shooting, calling it an act of domestic terrorism and condemning the alleged shooter’s racist ideology.
Vice President Harris and her husband met Saturday with other families of the victims of the mass shooting along with Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
CNN’s Jasmine Wright and Justin Gamble contributed.