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REP LIEU CONDEMNS SHOOTINGS IN LAGUNA WOODS AND BUFFALO

May 19, 2022

WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) issued the following statement after the shootings in Laguna Woods, California and Buffalo, New York this past weekend.

"Over the weekend, we saw two grave and horrific instances of hateful and racist violence wrought by extremism. Here in California, a gunman opened fire on a Laguna Woods church because the congregants were Taiwanese. One person was killed and five other were injured. In New York, a gunman, motivated by ginned up anger about minorities increasing in size, targeted a grocery store in a predominantly Black community in Buffalo. Ten people were killed and three were wounded. Both incidents were hate crimes and should be treated as such. I hope, for the sake of the families and friends of the victims, that the perpetrators are punished to the full extent of the law.

"Extremism has taken hold in our country and the consequences of that are devastating. Of course we need common sense gun safety measures enacted but we also need to address the misinformation and stoking of grievances that is pushing people to take these heinous actions. People should be able to live their lives freely and do things like visit the grocery store or attend church without fear of being shot or killed."