station by viewers like you.
>> President Biden offered both
consolation and a call to reject
racism, extremism and white
supremacy during a visit to
Buffalo, New York, today.
The president delivered his
remarks less than 72 hours after
police say a white supremacist
shot 13 people, killing ten of
them, in an attack on black
Americans in the city.
Special correspondent cat wise
reports from Buffalo.
>> Today, president Biden and
the first lady hand in hand paid
their respects at the makeshift
memorial outside of tops
supermarket.
Then met privately with families
of the 10 victims killed during
a racist rampage at the site in
an eastern neighborhood of
Buffalo, New York.
The president condemned the
gunman for his targeted pursuit
of black people in the store.
>> "What happened here is simple
and straightforward terrorism.
Domestic terrorism. Violence
inflicted the service of hate."
"White supremacy is a poison."
>> Receiving calls for stronger
federal regulation of guns, the
president said there's little
that can be done by executive
action.
But he did call out the spread
of racist ideology online as a
motivation for such attacks.
"The internet has radicalized
angry, alienated, lost and
isolated individuals into
falsely believing that they will
be replaced that's the word:
Replaced by the other."
>> Biden was referring to a
false idea known as replacement
theory.
Today, sen. Minority leader
Mitch Mcconnell was asked to
speak out against that idea and
declined.
>> "This horrible episode in
Buffalo is a direct result of a
completely deranged young man
who ought to suffer severe as
possible penalty under the law."
>> Meanwhile back in Buffalo,
there were new details about the
accused guman and the alleged
plot leading up to the massacre
on Saturday.
Diary entries discovered on the
platform "Discord" indicate he
had planned as early as November
to live stream an attack on
African Americans
he also traveled from his
hometown over 200 miles away in
March to scope out the tops
store.
>> You're gonna see a lot of
PTSD, a lot of trauma.
>> Dr. Kenyani Davis chief
medical officer of the community
health center of Buffalo spent
yesterday providing mental
health counseling and support to
employees of tops, many of whom
told her they'd interacted with
the alleged gunman on previous
days.
>> He came in prior and and told
'em, it was the day before, that
he was going to he was going to
come back and kill him. And the
employee said, oh, okay.
People have guilt. Not only do
they have survivor's guilt, but
they have remorse because he's
like, "I checked him out. I had
a conversation with him. I
talked to him, you know, days
prior."
>> This morning, she was still
processing what she heard.
>> My first gentleman that I
that I counseled when he
recounted being in a freezer and
hearing the shots come through.
And when the police escorted him
out and he had to walk over
bodies, he literally described
everybody what they were
wearing, who it was. And so he
can never unsee that. I don't
think I can un-hear that, you
know.
For some residents, the crime
scene has become a place to
grieve and reflect.
61-year-old Eric Watts brought
two of his grandsons as they
looked on, he shared advice no
child should have to hear.
>> "You gotta be aware of your
surroundings. Keep your eyes
open. Be vigilant."
>> Watts who learned Monday
night that one of his relatives
was killed in the shooting grew
up in the neighborhood. Now, he
and his wife Betty are raising
five of their grandchildren in a
house just minutes away from the
tops supermarket.
>> You brought some of your
grandchildren there today.
Eric: Yes.
>> What were you trying to have
them see there?
>> Racism is still here after
all these years.
I was trying to convey to them
to be careful wherever you go
>> Do you worry about their
safety?
>> I do. Every day they leave
home, I worry about their
safety.
I keep my kids around me. I go
to the grocery store. I take
them with me now. I go to the
store. I take them with me now.
>> That must be hard.
>> It is. Why do you have to
live like that? Why do we have
to live like that now?
>> Watts and some in the
community are upset at the way
the alleged gunman was treated
during his arrest.
>> How many of our
African-Americans are getting
killed in the streets for just
holding a gun? How many of our
African-Americans are getting
killed in the streets by the
police for not complying? This
white guy killed ten people.
Allegedly killed ten people and
had a chance to walk out the
store.
>> Watts was living in south
Carolina in 2015, when a gunman
opened fire at a black church in
Charleston, killing nine.
>> To see that happen in south
Carolina and then happened here
Saturday, it about back
memories. It brought back such
memories that that overfilled me
again.
This one hurts more because it
hurts more because it's home.
>> But that home is one of the
most segregated places in
America.
About 85 percent of Buffalo's
black residents live on the east
side where the tops supermarket
opened in 2003, after a long
community-led campaign.
The area has experienced decades
of systemic racism from
discriminatory housing practices
to the construction of a highway
that split it in half.
Now, its poverty rate is far
higher than the rest of the city
and researchers say key measures
of income, education and health
are even worse than they were 30
years ago.
Dr. Kenyani Davis says the
shooting was the ultimate
injustice for a community that's
had more than its share.
>> This individual from three or
4 hours away who doesn't even
live in our community, knows
that we have these injustices,
know that we had these
structural racism, know that we
had these issues and felt
comfortable enough knowing that
this is where I was going to be
able to target the most black
people. That that lets you know
how bad these issues really are
when it's not just a local
thing.
>> But in the days since the
massacre, Buffalo residents have
also shown their resilience and
unity launching a number of food
drives for those impacted by the
supermarket's closure people
like lifelong east side resident
Latasha Pouncey.
>> It's sad that we have to come
together for a tragedy like
this, for people to come, you
know, to help the community. But
it's nice to see that people are
coming together.
>> Residents we've spoken to
over the past couple days say
they want to see action, not
just words from the president
on gun violence, threats from
white supremacy and racial
inequality more broadly.
For the pbs newshour, I'm cat
wise in Buffalo, New York