Candlelight vigil in Hamilton honoured victims of Buffalo mass shooting

A candlelight vigil was held outside Hamilton City Hall on Monday night to honour the victims of the racially motivated mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

The shooting saw 10 people killed by an 18-year-old gunman on May 14.

Hamilton’s Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association (ACCA) and the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI) hosted the event.

“Families were reaching out to us saying that they need a healing process through what they have been seeing in the media,” said ACCA Associate, Lindon Barrett, in a statement. “This event is actually healing and remembering what happened in Buffalo and also explaining to our children that we can pass this and we can come over this situation.”

There were guest speakers present, such as Order of Canada Inductee Gary Wanter, psychotherapist Michael Opoku-Forfieh, drummer and Afro spiritualist Mosa McNeilly and ACCA president Evelyn Myrie.

Donations for families and individuals impacted by the Buffalo shooting can be made through GoFundMe. 

🕯️Candlelight Vigil for Black Community Members happening tonight at the forecourt of City Hall @cityofhamilton

We gather to honour the families lost by white supremacy violence and Black survivors of white supremacist violence. #HamOnt https://t.co/vlcSyO4B6r

— Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI) (@HCCI1) May 31, 2022

The vigil also comes after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas saw 19 students and two teachers killed by 18-year-old Salvador Rolando Ramos.