WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Buffalo on Saturday to attend the funeral of Ruth E. Whitfield, who at age 86 was the oldest victim of the May 14 mass shooting at the Tops Markets store on Jefferson Avenue.
The vice president's office announced the trip Friday, saying that Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, will accompany Harris on the trip. Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, is also expected to accompany Harris.
Harris and Emhoff will also meet with and offer condolences to the families of the other victims of the shooting.
Ruth Whitfield, the grandmother of eight, was a longtime parishioner at Durham Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church and sang in the choir. “She was a blessing to all of us,” her son said.
The vice president's visit comes two weeks after a gunman entered the supermarket and killed 10 people, wounding three others.
Payton Gendron, 18, a self avowed white supremacist arrested at the scene and charged with murder, published online prior to the shooting several long documents that said his goal was to kill as many Black people as possible.
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President Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited Buffalo and met with family members of the shooting victims on May 17.
Whitfield was the mother of retired Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield.
“She was a blessing to all of us," her son said. "She loved God and taught us to do the same thing."
The funeral will be held at Mount Olive Baptist Church, 701 E. Delavan Ave. A visitation is scheduled for 11 a.m., followed by services at noon.
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