Nassau vigils call for peace, end to gun violence

Three days after a white gunman opened fire in a predominantly Black Buffalo supermarket, killing 10 people, Long Island religious leaders prayed for peace, understanding and an end to gun violence at vigils in Hempstead and Valley Stream.

Nearly 100 Village of Hempstead elected officials, clergy, law enforcement and local residents locked hands Tuesday and bowed their heads as they offered prayers for the City of Buffalo, racial equality, healing for the country and for the victims of shooting.

"We pray for peace and comfort during this time, especially where there is so much anger, pain, hurt and confusion," said Pastor Isidoa Branch of Jackson Memorial Church in Hempstead at a vigil outside of Hempstead Village Hall.

Village of Hempstead Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. said the shooting was an attack on all communities of color. Hempstead, the state's most populous village, is home to the largest Black population on Long Island.

"What happened in Buffalo doesn't just affect Buffalo. It affects us all," Hobbs said. "And I don't want us to lose sense, in the midst of everything that's going on in this nation, that we are one."

Although the village beefed up security around houses of worship and shopping centers, and was closely monitoring social media postings in the wake of the mass shooting, Hobbs said there were no credible threats to the village.

On Saturday, Payton Gendron opened fire at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, shooting 13 people — 11 of them Black — and killing 10 people, police said. 

Gendron, 18, was arrested at the supermarket and charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

In Gendron's hateful writings, he said the assault — which was targeted after conducting reconnaissance in minority neighborhoods — was intended to terrorize all nonwhite, non-Christian people and get them to leave the country.

Bishop Wilbert Ingram of Tiberian Baptist Church in Queens prayed for the victims and for the shooter's family.

"Give them the strength to make it through," Ingram said. "Bless those who lost loved ones. Who are crying and shedding tears on this day. Those who need answers to questions they just don't understand."

On Tuesday evening, Nassau Legis. Carrié Solages (D-Lawrence) hosted another prayer vigil at the Valley Stream Presbyterian Church for the Buffalo victims.

With images of the 10 people killed displayed on a television screen behind Solages, he said he was devastated by the "racist" act, calling it "domestic terrorism.”

“Unfortunately, we are getting to become numb because we see so many” incidents, Solages said.

While condemning the incident, Solages said he would like to see “more elected officials here in Nassau and Suffolk County and the greater New York City area condemn this act of hate as this act of hate affects other communities such as the Asian community, [and] the Jewish community.”

Solages recalled going to a supermarket on Sunday and “looking for an escape route” because “I still had a feeling in me” that what happened in Buffalo could happen where he was shopping.

Rabbi Art Vernon, of Congregation Shaaray Shalom in West Hempstead, who also spoke at the vigil, said, “we have not seen the end of white supremacy.”

“We’ve done a very good job of changing laws, although some laws still need to be changed … we have failed at changing hearts,” he said.

Before concluding the vigil, minister Philip Jones of the Valley Stream Presbyterian Church and other local leaders lit a candle for each of the people killed in Buffalo.