PITTSBURGH — The Eradicate Hate Global Summit started in Downtown Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
The event first started in the city in the aftermath of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, and a big focus this year is on the growing dangers of technology.
Mayor Corey O’Connor started by telling a personal story about the different religions that make up his own family.
He then reflected on the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history: the Squirrel Hill synagogue shooting.
He commented on how that led to the annual meeting to combat hate right here in Pittsburgh.
“Eleven of our community members were murdered because of hate, but our city stood up,” O’Connor said.
Pittsburgh changed forever on Oct. 27, 2018. Since then, hate has reared its ugly head, like in 2024 when pastor Glenn Germany came face to face with a loaded gun at his church in North Braddock.
“He pulled the trigger two times, and it not be for God; it was a miracle, and you can call it whatever you want to call it, but for me it was a miracle because the gun jammed, and if the gun didn’t jam, it wouldn’t be me standing up here speaking to you; it would be my wife advocating for gun laws. I did not know what hate looked like that day, but it was a day that I’ll never forget,” Germany said.
While remembering the past is part of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, it is also about coming up with solutions.
For years, hundreds of top experts from around the world have been coming together in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to do just that.
Survivors of hate-fueled violence talked about the steps they’ve taken to turn an act of hate into a force for good. That includes Nicole Hockley, a mother of a student killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. She is co-CEO of Sandy Hook Promise.
“As a direct result of our programs and the crisis center we have in Miami, we have stopped close to 4,000 imminent youth suicides, multiple thousands of youth mental health interventions, and as of this past month in Arkansas, stopped our 20th planned school shooting, which shows that prevention is possible,” Hockley said.
The summit runs through Thursday.
Some of the other upcoming panel discussions include AI’s role in enabling and preventing violence and nihilistic violence, which they explain is a growing threat in which vulnerable children are groomed online and coerced into self-harm and violence.
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