'The world needs to know we’re hurting here in Buffalo': A grieving community gathers to see President Biden

“My sister cried for two days straight,” Ofield said.

But the women felt they needed to come Tuesday for President Biden’s visit to the site to support their Buffalo community and encourage him to stand strong against racism, they said.

They were among the dozens who gathered at a police blockade at Jefferson Avenue and East Utica Street, as close as they could get to where the president and first lady Jill Biden laid flowers in memory of the victims over a block away.

Ofield wore a “Black Lives Matter” hat and held a sign that she said placed blame for the crime where it belongs. “Due to Hate,” it read.

“We are here to show the love for this community,” Ofield said. “There’s too much hate in the world. All this happened because of hating people you don’t even know. There is good in every nationality, and we need to love and support one another. I hope this will bring the community together because we are all one.”

Biden came to Buffalo to comfort a community shaken by a hate crime that killed 10 people and wounded three – and even those disappointed they couldn’t get closer welcomed the visit. Eugenia Washington said Biden’s trip to Buffalo spotlighted the city’s grief.

“We need to have a voice,” Washington said. “The world needs to know we’re hurting here in Buffalo. It was a tragedy. Pure hate. We lost 10 lives because of hate. That should never happen in America.”

Jamie Lash, 61, of Buffalo, wanted not only to see the president, but “I wanted to talk to him,” she said. “I’d say, ‘Hey, Biden! We’re glad you’re here in little Buffalo.’ He came here to see about us, we truly appreciate it.”

'Evil will not win, I promise you': President Biden speaks to grieving Buffalo community

The community Biden came to comfort was treated to a strong show of presidential security. Police kept the public behind blockades hundreds of yards from where the motorcade stopped, and Secret Service and police secured a wide area that closed several nearby streets beyond the yellow-taped crime scene.

Some 100 reporters and photographers were corralled in a parking lot and lined up to be swiped with metal detectors while agents searched their gear and vehicles. Then they were allowed to stand under a row of white tents across the street from the flowers and balloons chosen for the media moment.

Camouflage SWAT vehicles were parked on surrounding street corners, and two sharpshooters holding rifles stood on the roof of the Family Dollar, overlooking Riley Street.

At 11 a.m., the motorcade pulled up and the Bidens emerged from a black limousine to the sound of shutters clicking. The first lady carried a large arrangement of white blooms and Biden held her hand as they approached and laid their flowers.

Then more car doors opened and they were joined by Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Charles Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and other officials who also laid flowers and then huddled in prayer.

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Minutes later, the group went back to their vehicles and drove to the Delavan Grider Community Center, where the president met with families of the shooting victims and delivered televised remarks.

Once agents opened the media corral, news crews went to the barricades to hear the community speak.

Lash said she used to work at Tops and knows people who survived by hiding “in the money room” and the freezer. She said she would urge Biden to “eliminate anything that assisted in this happening.”

“I never heard of Twitch, none of us ever heard of it, and that day they allowed him to put every single hateful thought he had up there?” she said. “Like my Pastor, Darius Pridgen, said Sunday, ‘Don’t even come here if you aren’t willing to say that white supremacy and hatred still exist and we need to stop it.’ ”

Residents hoping to see Biden also gathered near the community center, restricted to an area around the corner.

Antoinette “Gudy” Wiley, who owns a custom T-shirt shop in the city, said she was struck by the heavy police presence there.

“It’s here to protect Joe Biden,” she said. “And these are Secret Service that probably should have been in position, looking at these keywords on the internet, you know, to prevent this type of situation.”

Watch now: President Biden arrives at site of mass shooting in Buffalo

Rosalind Miller, a California transplant to Buffalo, said she was at the Tops store 20 minutes before the shooting.

“I couldn't believe it. And I haven't slept since,” she said.

“The president of the United States is in the hood in Buffalo, New York,” she said. “I won't forget this. This is a historical moment in time, and I wanted to see it. And I wanted to show my support for the families and the people that suffered a loss."

David Louis of Buffalo said he’s still processing what happened. 

“Yesterday I was driving to this Tops because this is the only Tops I go to, and then it hit me,” he said. “I’m like, ‘I’m on my way to Tops and this thing just happened, and I didn’t even realize this is the only Tops I ever use.’

He finally decided to drive to Sam’s Club, “and there were only white people going in and out the store,” he said. “So to me, that made it even more surreal that this was a real thing happening in our city. I was scared. I’m a fighter. I was scared to get my strong, Black male self out of the car and go into the store because I thought I was going to be shot … because I’m Black.”

Staff Reporters Deidre Williams and Stephen T. Watson contributed to this report.