Buffalo’s Road to Recovery

Tops Friendly Market has now re-opened in East Buffalo, two months after a white supremacist walked into the supermarket with guns blazing. Motivated by previous racist attacks and the false and insidious“great replacement theory,” the shooter live-streamed his killing spree, during which he took the lives of ten members of Buffalo’s Black community. The victims included parents, the elderly, a beloved community activist, and the security guard who died shooting back.

Tops closed down for months, dealing another blow to the hard-hit community. For years, Tops was the only supermarket in an area that’s otherwise a food desert. It's opening in 2003 marked the culmination of a years-long push from community members, after decades of disinvestment.

As the community continues to heal and forge a path forward, Into America travels to Buffalo to speak with Buffalo natives Fragrance Harris Stanfield, who was working at Tops the day of the shooting, and Pastor Tim Newkirk, a community activist who was involved in the original push to bring a full-service grocery store to his community.

For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica.

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Hate And Heartbreak In BuffaloSpace To GrieveWatch Trymaine Lee on NBC News Now Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.