Zeneta Everhart tells Congress: 'I do not feel protected' from gun violence

"No citizen needs an AR-15," Everhart said at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas. "These weapons are designed to do the most harm in the least amount of time. And on Saturday, May 14, it took a domestic terrorist just two minutes to shoot and kill 10 people and injure three others."

Describing her son as "pure joy," Everhart noted that he now lives with gunshot wounds in the neck, back and right leg, some still riddled with shrapnel.

"If after hearing from me and the other people testifying here today does not move you to act on gun laws, I invite you to my home to help me clean Zaire's wounds, so that you may see up close the damage that has been caused to my son and to my community," Everhart said.

What's more, she said it is the responsibility of Congress to act.

"You are elected because you have been chosen and are trusted to protect us," she said. "But let me say to you here today: I do not feel protected."

Composed but emotional throughout her testimony, Everhart – an aide to State Sen. Timothy Kennedy, a Buffalo Democrat – also delivered a damning critique of American history, saying it contributed to the violence and racism of today.

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"America is inherently violent," she said. "This is who we are as a nation. The very existence of this country was founded on violence, hate and racism with the near annihilation of my native brothers and sisters. My ancestors brought to America through the slave trade were the first currency of America."

Noting that she did not learn African American history until college, Everhart offered a rebuke to current efforts in school districts across the country to downplay the history of slavery and race relations in America.

"We cannot continue to whitewash education, creating generations of children to believe that one race of people are better than the other," she said. "Our differences should make us curious, not angry. At the end of the day, I bleed, you bleed. We are all human."

Thanking those who reached out to try to help after the shooting, Everhart said: "But I also say to you today with a heart full from the outpouring of love that you also freely gave us: Your thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need you to stand with us in the days, weeks, months and years to come and be ready to go to work and help us to create the change that this country so desperately needs."

Everhart spoke at a hearing that also featured heart-wrenching testimony from a doctor and parents who lost a child in Uvalde, as well as a child who survived that attack. Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia was scheduled to testify later in the hearing.

Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat, spoke at the start of the hearing.

Even before listening to the wrenching testimony from Everhart and the Uvalde witnesses, Higgins said: "We have a problem in this country. Unless we learn from the tragic events of the last three weeks, who are we as a people?"