Contact:
Eric Christopher Webb, DDiv., CPLC
Director of Communications/Editor of The Sphinx
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. ewebb@apa1906.net
Cell: 443-635-5911
May 16, 2022
For Immediate Release
BALTIMORE, MD. – The Men of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. are outraged and condemn the acts of self-proclaimed white supremacist and alleged mass shooter, Payton Gendron, who targeted African Americans at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York over the weekend.
Today, we mourn those lives lost in this violent tragedy and offer our deepest condolences to the families of the 10 victims. Unarmed Black people continue to be murdered in peaceful spaces or while living their everyday lives without any justice or accountability.
This must stop.
According to police, had the shooter’s carnage not been stopped, he planned to “shoot more Black people.”
Therefore, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. urges law enforcement, particularly, the U.S. Attorney General and the Department of Justice, to classify this case as a federal hate crime. Crimes such as these should be fully prosecuted, whether on the state or federal level, and face the stiffest penalties.
We continue to stand with Alpha Brother and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, first responders, the Rho Lambda Chapter in Buffalo, and the community-at-large, as they work to heal their city. Since our founding, Alpha Phi Alpha has been at the forefront of civil rights and social justice issues, taking a stand against violence and white supremacy at every turn.
As a fraternity, we will do what we can to ensure that the Buffalo community receives the support it needs.
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About Alpha Phi Alpha
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, MD, was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African-American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Paul Robeson, Andrew Young, Edward Brooke and Cornel West. The fraternity, through its more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Visit and follow on Twitter @apa1906network.