‘Are we destined to just keep doing this city after city?’
A CNN anchor became incredibly emotional during a live broadcast while covering the Buffalo grocery store massacre that left 10 people dead.
The channel’s Victor Blackwell was on the scene at the Tops Friendly Market when he became emotional and had to turn away from the camera.
CNN’s Victor Blackwell gets tearful covering the Buffalo shooting: “I’ve done 15 of these…Democrats will say guns. Republicans will say mental health, and nothing will change. I’ll probably do another one this year. Is this the way we’re supposed to live?”pic.twitter.com/6BBnETyomS
— Dionne Grant (@DionneGrant) May 17, 2022
“I’ve done 15 of these. At least the ones I can count,” he said. “And we keep having the conversation about Democrats will say guns, Republicans will say mental health and nothing will change. And I’ll probably do another one this year.”
Prime suspect Payton Gendron, 18, is said to have planned the attack in advance and picked an area with a large population of Black people. In his online manifesto, Gendron paid tribute to previous mass shooters and despite pleading not guilty, faces first-degree murder charges.
Blackwell further questioned whether American citizens are expected to live under the seemingly constant threat of random gun attacks.
“Are we destined to just keep doing this city after city? Have we just resigned that this is what we are going to be?” he added before passing back to the studio and turning his back to the camera.
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family of one victim, spoke out on Monday and branded the situation a case of “domestic terrorism.”
“What happened on Saturday was an act of domestic terrorism, and we have to define it as such,” he said at a press conference, according to The Hill.
“We can’t sugarcoat it. We can’t try to explain it away talking about mental illness. No, this was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by a young white supremacist. There is no question about his intentions.”
In another statement, he said: “These grieving families deserve to know how a white supremacist, so vocal about his hatred, was able to carry out a premeditated and targeted act of terrorism against Black people – all while armed with an assault rifle fitted with a high-capacity magazine.
“It’s an all-too familiar scenario, with the same tragic, but preventable ending.”
