“Now is the time for all Americans to speak up,” Biden said. The US president delivered a similar message in two separate White House meetings, one attended by the family of Martin Luther King Jr. to mark the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. He praised the current administration’s efforts to combat hate crimes and ensure equal rights for all.
US President Joe Biden. Photo: ABC News
“Silence is complicity, and we will not remain silent,” Biden said. “White supremacy is poison.”
A 21-year-old white gunman shot and killed three black people at a store in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday. The gunman, Ryan Christopher Palmer, then killed himself.
Local police chief TK Waters said the shooting was racially motivated. Authorities said the shooter left several manifestos for the media, his parents and law enforcement detailing his hatred of black people.
The FBI said in March that hate crimes in the US increased by nearly 12% in 2021, with the majority motivated by racial or ethnic bias.
“We must act,” Biden said, noting that white supremacy is now the greatest terrorist threat facing the United States. “We must all make it clear that hate will not prevail.”
Vice President Kamala Harris warned that “there are those who are trying to divide our country. Americans have an obligation not to let factions cut into our unity,” she added.
“Over the past 60 years, this country has come a long way in combating racism and white supremacy,” Stephen Benjamin, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, told reporters.
Quoc Thien (according to Reuters)
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