Governor Hochul: "And what I saw in the aftermath, was that same sense of one family here in Western New York that made me so proud. We mourned together. We hugged each other. We wept for days and days, trying to figure out some sense behind this. But all I know is we stand here one year later — this building, this neighborhood, this community, a testament to the simple fact that hate did not win on that day, the white supremacists did not win on that day, racism did not win on that day, that the people of Buffalo said that love will come out and be the winner on this day."
Hochul: "I am proud of you, my fellow Buffalonians. I am so proud that we can stand up together, united. And I also want to say to the families and those who are here, who've walked out with their lives — the store employees, the trauma that was inflicted, the emotional harm. We're here to help you heal. This is not just, put up a memorial and we walk away. We're committed to helping you rise uponce again. And the pain that you must feel, even this year alone, 202 times you watched the news and you saw another community traumatized — another name on the list of those communities that endured a mass shooting."
This afternoon, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at a Moment of Remembrance at Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the white supremacist terror attack at Tops Supermarket in Buffalo on May 14, 2022.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks are available below:
Good morning fellow Buffalonians. It's a beautiful day. It's Mother's Day. And the cruel irony behind the fact that it is a day we celebrate a life that comes into this world, making someone a mother, is also a day we're here to think about those who are no longer with us. It's hard. It's been a really hard year.
And we are so grateful that we had a leader like our mayor who stood up shoulder to shoulder with this community, unrelenting in his pursuit to just try to heal us and bring us together. And I applaud his leadership at a time when we needed it most. And I want to give another round of applause to our great mayor, Byron Brown. Also joined by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. We'll be hearing from our Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a few moments, our Congressman Brian Higgins. My partner in state government, our incredible Attorney General, Tish James, who has taken on the fight, because she was here just like we all came here, and she's taking on the gun manufacturers and she's taking on the social media companies and saying, "Stop spreading hate in our country."
So, thank you, Attorney General James, our other partners in state government, State Assembly Majority Leader, Crystal Peoples-Stokes, State Senator Tim Kennedy, State Senator Sean Ryan, and our Attorney General, our District Attorney. We're all here together. But this is not just one day. What happened one year ago on a day that was just like this, it was sunny.
People were shopping, buying birthday cakes, bringing home dinner. All the people who came into this store, and I want to thank John Persons. It's because you've done an amazing job in the aftermath. But this is a place where people gathered, they brought food to nurture their families and continued traditions of sitting around a table as one family.
And what I saw in the aftermath, was that same sense of one family here in Western New York that made me so proud. We mourned together. We hugged each other. We wept for days and days, trying to figure out some sense behind this. But all I know is we stand here one year later — this building, this neighborhood, this community, a testament to the simple fact that hate did not win on that day, the white supremacists did not win on that day, racism did not win on that day, that the people of Buffalo said that love will come out and be the winner on this day.
So, I am proud of you, my fellow Buffalonians. I am so proud that we can stand up together, united. And I also want to say to the families and those who are here, who've walked out with their lives — the store employees, the trauma that was inflicted, the emotional harm. We're here to help you heal. This is not just, put up a memorial and we walk away. We're committed to helping you rise up once again. And the pain that you must feel, even this year alone, 202 times you watched the news and you saw another community traumatized — another name on the list of those communities that endured a mass shooting.
I know it's hard to step back and see you're going to be okay, but we're here with you. We're not abandoning you. We are committed to building up our local economy, creating more jobs, giving our kids alternatives, helping our small businesses, ending the food deserts. We are here for you because that's what we do. Buffalo is a city of not just good neighbors, but a city of love. Thank you my friends. Thank you.