City of Buffalo Mayor Christopher P. Scanlon and members of the city’s 5/14 Memorial Commission have announced the location for a permanent memorial to honor the lives taken and those impacted by the racially motivated mass shooting at Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue on May 14, 2022.
The 5/14 Memorial Commission identified 18 city-owned and privately-owned lots required for the construction of a permanent memorial. The City’s discussions with private property owners have successfully concluded, with three owners willing to donate or sell the remaining four parcels needed for the memorial.
As a result, all 18 lots required for the memorial have now been designated for a unified site, and the acquisition of all parcels marks a critical step forward for the 5/14 Memorial Foundation Inc. to enter the design, engineering, permitting, and fundraising phases of the project.
Mayor Scanlon said, “As we approach three years since the horrific racially motivated attack on May 14th, today’s announcement isn’t just about transferring property — it’s about the next step creating a permanent and living space that reflects the strength of the East Side community and ensures that the lives we lost are never forgotten.”
On Tuesday, May 13th, the Common Council approved the sale of 14 city-owned parcels at the designated memorial site to the 5/14 Memorial Foundation. The City of Buffalo submitted a Designated Developer Agreement, which was approved by the Buffalo Common Council, to establish site control at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Best Street.
The Buffalo Massacre
Ten people, all of whom were African Americans, were murdered and three, one of whom was African American, were injured when an 18-year-old opened fire with a Bushmaster XM-15 AR-15–style rifle modified to accept high-capacity magazines. He also carried multiple 30-round ammunition magazines. He was wearing body armor, a military helmet, and a head-mounted camera, through which he livestreamed the attack on the online service Twitch.
The killer wrote a manifesto describing himself as an ethno-nationalist and a supporter of white supremacy who is motivated to commit acts of political violence. He voiced support for the far-right racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory and a hatred of diversity.
The claim Democrats were replacing White Americans with immigrant people of color had been repeatedly echoed in the campaign advertisements of New York Representative Elise Stefanik (NY-21) in the months leading up to the killings. After the massacre she continued to advance what are now prevalent anti-immigrant conspiracy theories.
Shortly after the shootings, New York State banned most semi-automatic sales to people under 21 and certain types of body armor. One of the victims of the shooting was an armed security guard, a former police officer, who engaged the killer and was himself killed.
In March of 2024 a New York judge ruled Reddit and YouTube must face lawsuits in connection with the mass shooting over accusations that they played a role in the radicalization of the shooter.
The killer had traveled three and a half hours to the supermarket in a black neighborhood from his nearly all-white hometown of Conklin, in Broome County, NY, about 200 miles away.
The 5/14 Memorial
The 5/14 Memorial Commission, established in October 2022 by Governor Kathy Hochul and then-Mayor Byron W. Brown, unveiled the final design for the memorial, titled “Seeing Us,” in May of 2024.
Designed by Jin Young Song and Douglass Alligood, the memorial features ten interconnected stone pillars inscribed with the names of the lives taken and survivors, each with a unique arc and height.
A sweeping support building will serve as a central hub for education, exhibitions, community activities, and events, with an elevated Memorial Walk on its roof. The design was selected through a public engagement process, including community meetings and surveys.
The estimated cost for the memorial is approximately $15 million. To date, New York State has committed $5 million, and the City of Buffalo has pledged $1 million toward the project.
The 5/14 Memorial Commission has designated the newly created 5/14 Memorial Foundation to initiate a yearlong fundraising campaign to secure the remaining funds necessary to commence construction.
Illustration: 5-14 Buffalo mass Shooting Memorial Rendering.
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