BUFFALO, N.Y. — He frequently preaches forgiveness, yet Darius Pridgen, pastor of one of the largest Black churches in Buffalo, New York, said it's taken him months to consider forgiving the teenager who killed 10 people in a racially motivated attack at his neighborhood grocery store.
Pridgen, who is also president of the Buffalo Common Council, the equivalent of a city council, told ABC News he lost several friends in the May 14, 2022, massacre that left him seething with anger.
The gunman, 19-year-old Payton Gendron, is to be sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty in November to 15 charges, including murder, attempted murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. The church's food pantry, which distributes free groceries to needy residents weekly, met the uptick of east side citizens needing sustenance while the only supermarket within miles of their neighborhood was a crime scene and was closed for weeks after the shooting, the pastor said. The church's food truck set up shop near the Jefferson Avenue Tops store to feed residents free of charge for days, he said.
Retired Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, whose mother, 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, was among those slain in the supermarket massacre, praised Pridgen and his congregation for the work they have done to help the city try to heal. Following the mass shooting, Pridgen said his church upgraded its security, investing in surveillance equipment.
"It was this kind of a rip-your-heart-out moment because as a Black dad, you want to be there for this Black boy who's found his way, he loves acting, and I had to leave," Pridgen said."The one thing this white supremacist idiot did for us is he gave us a key to talk about racism, to talk about white supremacy without being labeled as playing the race card," Pridgen said.
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Buffalo pastor prays for a break from turmoil, as mass killer awaits sentencingHe frequently preaches forgiveness, yet Darius Pridgen, pastor of one of the largest Black churches in Buffalo, said it's taken him months to consider forgiving the teenager who killed 10 people in a racially motivated attack at his local grocery store.
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