Hundreds of mourners gathered outside Winthrop Town Hall on Thursday to commemorate the lives of two people who were killed in a shooting that’s being investigated as a hate crime.
On June 26, a gunman fatally shot David Green, 68, a retired Massachusetts state trooper, and Ramona Cooper, 60, an Air Force veteran. Both victims are Black and investigators found racist and anti-Semitic writings at the home of Nathan Allen, the gunman, who was shot and killed by police.
The vigil offered the community a chance to come together and try to make some sense of a week unlike any other.
Speaking at the vigil, Ray Green, David Green’s brother, said that it was important to have time together because so many people had been hurting. Green said he and his brother grew up in Winthrop and that anyone who knew David knew he was a unique individual.
“He could connect with anyone. And when he talked to you, he talked from his heart,” he said. “When he listened to you, he listened, not only with his ears, but with his heart. He was very straight with people, he was very upfront, he was without guile. He was an individual that would help anybody at any time, without being asked.”
Green said he heard plenty of stories from people who knew his brother and came to give their condolences.
“Things I had never heard about my brother. It gave me a unique understanding of who he is beyond what I already knew,” he said. “And also it helped, it was therapeutic for me and my wife to be able to hear these things. And it was just so great that the community came together and supported us. I’m sure they did the same thing for the Cooper family. And I just want people to know that this does not taint the memory of my brother, nor taint the memory of this town.”
John Bentley, a member of the Winthrop Commission for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations, read a statement that was prepared by Ramona Cooper’s son, Gary Cooper.
“My mom was a hard worker. She graduated college, and she was a very educated woman,” the statement read. “She was kind, funny and quiet. My mom had a positive impact on all she met with her big smile and contagious laugh. I will miss her, and I am so glad that I have so many voicemails on my phone which my mom started, ‘Hey, Honey, it’s me. How you doing?’”
Cooper's statement also addressed the racial divide being grappled with across the country.
“My family and I can only hope for the sake of my mother and all victims of racially motivated crimes that their deaths will not be in vain,” the statement read. “We need to do better.”
The vigil, which was attended by Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, had a spiritual air. Clergy members of various faiths led readings and prayers, and a rendition of the hymn “Amazing Grace” echoed quietly throughout the crowd. A moment of silence where people held up lit candles or the flashlights on their phones honored the fallen.
For residents of Winthrop, the vigil brought a chance to navigate tough emotions.
Ronnie Seidenberg, who turns 70 in a couple of months, was born and raised in Winthrop. She said the past week has been sad.
“I’m enraged. Shock and disbelief,” she said. “I keep thinking about the Civil Rights Act which was almost 60 years ago and the 200 years that it took to get to that point. And people are still ignorant. I just, I have a hard time understanding and dealing with it.”
As the ceremony came to a close, rain began to fall on Winthrop, a fitting ending to a week where plenty of tears had been shed in the shoreside town.
