Garnell Whitfield Jr., the son of a Buffalo mass shooting victim, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on domestic terrorism. He pleaded with lawmakers to do something and act on gun violence with urgency.
Whitfield Jr. is the son of 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, killed along with nine others who were violently targeted because of their race and gunned down inside a Tops grocery store.
He said her life mattered and told the panel they are elected to protect us, to protect our way of life. He also spoke to the danger of white supremacy and said lawmakers should yield their positions to others willing to take action:
“Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and the domestic terrorism it inspires? Because if there is nothing, then, respectfully, Senators, you should yield your positions of authority and influence to others that are willing to lead on this issue. Every enforcement agency charged with protecting the homeland has conducted risk and threat analysis and determined that white supremacy is the number one threat to the homeland. And yet, nothing has been done to mitigate or eradicate it.”
Click ▶️ to listen to AURN Washington Correspondent Ebony McMorris’s report:
