BUFFALO – A teenage gunman fascinated by white radicalism known as the alternative theory opened fire at a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday, methodically fatally shooting 10 people. and wounded three others, most of them black, in one of the deadliest racist massacres in recent US history.
Authorities identified the gunman as 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron of Conklin, a small town in rural New York’s Southern Tier. Police say Mr Gendron drove more than 200 miles to carry out his attack, which he also live-streamed, according to police, a grisly video feed appeared designed to promote the show. his evil agenda.
Shortly after Gendron’s arrest, a manifesto allegedly posted by the gunman online surfaced, with racist, anti-immigrant views that said white Americans were at risk of being displaced. replaced by people of color. In the video that appears to have been captured by the camera mounted on his helmet, an anti-Black racial slur can be seen on the barrel of his weapon.
The attack, at Tops Friendly Market in a largely black neighborhood in east Buffalo, elicits grim comparisons to a series of other massacres fueled by racism, including the killing of 9 Black parishioners at a church in Charleston, SC, in 2015; a protest riot in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 left 11 dead; and an attack at a Walmart in El Paso in 2019, where the man was accused of expressing hatred for Latinos. More than 20 people died there.
In the Buffalo grocery store where four employees were shot, brutality and planning were evident: Gendron was armed with an assault weapon and in body armor, police said. And his preferred victims also seemed clear: All told, 11 of those shot were Black and two white, authorities said.
“It was a straight up racially motivated hate crime,” said John Garcia, Erie County sheriff.
At a news conference Saturday night, Governor Kathy Hochul – a Buffalo native – echoed that sentiment and criticized the attack as an “act of barbarism” and “execution of innocent people” , as well as a terrifying reminder of the dangers of “White Man’s Supremacy.”
“We were moved to learn that there is something evil lurking out there,” said Governor Hochul.
Based on what was written in the manifesto, the attack appeared to have been inspired by previous massacres fueled by racial hatred, including the New Zealand mosque shootings. and the Walmart shooting in Texas, both in 2019.
In the manifesto being reviewed by law enforcement, Gendron – who attended a community college in Binghamton, NY – wrote that he chose the area because it has a high percentage of Black residents. closest to the largest home in the southern part of the state. Tier, a predominantly white area bordering Pennsylvania.
The document outlines a careful plan to kill as many Blacks as possible, complete with the type of gun he will use, a timeline, and where he will eat before that.
It also includes details on where he will be live-streaming the violence, mayhem, which he has also identified. He carefully researched the grocery store’s layout, writing that he would shoot a security guard before stalking through the aisles and shooting at Black shoppers. He wrote that he would shoot some twice, in the chest, when he could.
He wrote that he had been “passively preparing” for the Buffalo attack for several years, purchasing ammunition and equipment, while regularly practicing shooting. In January, the plans “really got serious,” according to the manifesto, also expressing praise for the perpetrators of the 2015 South Carolina attacks, and one man killed 51 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.
Mr Gendron read racist posts by the New Zealand gunman, who also live-streamed his attack, a method also used in take a shot at a synagogue in Halle, Germany, in 2019.
In an arrangement Saturday night, Mr Gendron pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, a charge that could lead to a life sentence without parole. He said little except to confirm that he understood the charges, and expressed little emotion inside the courtroom.
US Attorney for Buffalo, Trini E. Ross, said her office is also investigating the killings as federal hate crimes.
Other gunmen have referenced the racist idea known as “Alternative Theory”“, a concept that was once associated with the far right, but is an increasingly mainstream concept, promoted by politicians and popular TV show.
Officials said the camera the gunman was wearing was used to live-stream the attack on Twitch, an Amazon-owned live-streaming site that is popular with gamers. On Saturday, Twitch said it had taken the channel offline. However, screenshots of the broadcast have been circulating online, some of which show the shooter holding a gun and standing over a body in a grocery store.
In his manifesto, Mr Gendron appeared to be enthusiastic about broadcasting his attack, saying the live stream allowed “everyone with internet access” to watch and record the violence.
Authorities say the massacre began around 2:30 p.m., when Gendron arrived at the market and stepped out of his car – on a sunny spring afternoon – in tactical suit, body armor and carrying a weapon attack gas.
At the press conference, he shot four people in the parking lot, Joseph A. Gramaglia, the Buffalo police commissioner, said at the press conference, three of them died. As he entered the store and continued to fire, he encountered a security guard, a retired Buffalo cop who returned fire. But Mr. Gendron was wearing heavy metal plating; He killed the security guard and continued into the store, shooting at shoppers and employees.
When Buffalo police officers arrived and confronted Gendron, he held a gun to his neck, but two patrolmen persuaded him to drop his weapon and surrender, Gramaglia said.
The mayor of Buffalo, Byron W. Brown, said that he and his family periodically shop at the store.
“Several victims of a gunman attack,” said Brown, a fifth-term Democrat and the first black man elected mayor of Buffalo, New York’s second most populous city. These are people we all know standing here.
The 10 deaths in Buffalo represent the highest death toll in a mass shooting in the United States this year, according to Gun Violence Archives, keep track of them. The highest death toll this year was six before that, in a shooting in downtown Sacramento on April 3. Six people were also killed in a shooting in Corsicana, Texas, on February 5, and the same number were also killed in a shooting in Milwaukee on January 23, according to the site. web.
In a statement released late Saturday night, President Biden expressed sympathy for the victims’ families and commended law enforcement, adding that “hate crimes are motivated race is abhorrent to the very fabric of this nation.”
“Any act of domestic terrorism, including one carried out in the name of abhorrent white nationalist ideology, is contrary to everything we stand for as America.” said the president. “Hate must have no safe harbor.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
Gunfire in Buffalo on Saturday shattered a seemingly peaceful afternoon, sending shoppers screaming and fleeing inside Tops, and families scattering to find loved ones outside stores.
Ken Stephens, 68, a member of a local anti-violence group, described a macabre scene. “I come here, and bodies are everywhere,” he said.
The attack took place in a neighborhood known as Masten Park on Buffalo’s East Side. Dominique Calhoun, who lives within sight of the supermarket, said she was pulling into its parking lot to buy ice cream with her daughters – aged eight and nine – when she saw people running outside screaming.
“It could literally be me,” she said of those who lost their lives.
Dorothy Simmons, 64, often spends part of her Saturdays at Tops, grocery shopping to prepare for Sunday dinner, which she says is part of a common tradition in her community. she. On Saturday, however, she was working in Amherst.
And when she heard the news, she broke down and cried.
“This is our store,” Ms. Simmons said. “This is our store.”
Kellen Browning, Dan Higgins, Luke Hammill, Glenn Thrush, Adam Goldman, Alexandra E. Petri, Ashley Southall, Vimal Patel and Eduardo Medina contribution report. Jack Begg research contributions.
