The Tops Supermarket shooting in Buffalo was nothing the nation hadn't witnessed before - a community tattered by an act of racially-fueled hatred. June 17 marks seven years since Charleston, South Carolina was shaken the same way that Buffalo was on May 14, when a white supremacist invaded Emanuel AME Church and claimed nine Black lives. One of those lives was that of Rep. JA Moore’s sister, Myra.

"I can just imagine the devastation and unfortunately, my family knows the pain and dismay all too well," Moore said.

When Moore heard about what happened in Buffalo, he recalled being "heartbroken and saddened," but not surpised. He said that racism has long been an issue within the nation and even as he watched his father dedicate his life to civil rights, the very hate he fought against would continue to claim lives.

"My father fought for 50 years, hoping that his children would have a better life than he had, hoping that his work would some way thwart racism in this country, sexism in this country, and three years after he died, his daughter was a victim of racist hate," Moore added.

As Payton Gendron made "reconaissance" trips to Tops before carrying out the mass murder, Dylann Roof visited Emanuel AME Church several times before committing his heinous act of violence. Both shooters were avowed white nationalists who posted manifestos online detailing racist views toward Black Americans and other minority groups. Both chose respective locations for their crimes due to high ration of Black Americans in those areas. 

To support Buffalo, Moore revealed exclusively to Spectrum News 1 that he will visit Buffalo on May 25 to meet with Mayor Byron Brown, visit the Tops memorial site, and donate food to FeedMore WNY.

Four years after the Charleston shooting, El Paso, Texas would be stricken by a similar tragedy, when a shooter targeted a Walmart aiming to kill Latinx Americans. Like Gendron, who had also planned to attack at a Walmart in Buffalo if he escaped Tops, Patrick Wood Crusius revealed in a web-published manifesto that his motivation was the "great replacement theory."

Crusius killed 23 and injured 23 others. Some of the lives he took belonged to the Rev. Mike Lewis’ parish. The uncanny tragedy of Buffalo brought to his mind the same questions he had in 2019.

"What are the depths of people’s disagreements, but this goes beyond disagreements, their utter hatred towards people who are a different skin color or who have a different ancestry," asked Lewis, a priest for the Diocese of El Paso.

Another trigger for the El Paso community is that both shooters were outsiders from the community. This, Lewis said, was an invasion of a tight-knit and friendly community not unlike Buffalo.

"When you feel somebody come in to that who doesn't understand that, but more importantly doesn't care, doesn't want to understand that, that is one of the most painful things," Lewis said. "If you had just given us a chance, you would've seen what a warm and welcoming community we are because we are a diverse community, not in spite of it."

The wound is still fresh for Buffalo, but communities that have endured the same traumas found greater strength in moments that heal wounds through time.

"In those moments, great things can happen," Moore said. "Change can happen, even though it may seem incremental and small, it’s not going to bring any of your loved ones back, but it’s a chance to be impactful in change."

"I think we discovered who we were as a community after the shooting," Lewis said. "I think we did come together as a community; we still do, in a way that is closer than we’ve ever been before and it sounds like that’s what’s happening in Buffalo, too."

Solidarity isn’t just in Buffalo, it’s throughout the nation from those who know the city’s pain all too well.

"The Christian faith is based on faith, hope and love, and I think if we look for ways that we can increase that in each of our communities, then we can’t help but help each other through things as difficult as these moments too," Lewis said.

"People are going to come to you for advice, people are going to look on you to help, and that burden of strength is now yours," Moore said. "But rest assured that the people of Charleston, me in particular, and all family members of victims of racist acts in this country, we stand with you, we’re going to fight with you, we’re going to do the work."