Vanessa Igoe
On 14 May 2022, an 18-year-old white supremacist live-streamed himself shooting 13 people, eleven of which were Black, in Buffalo, New York. Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia revealed that the suspect planned to have continued his attack at another large superstore if he had not been apprehended. The attack was racially motivated, as gunman Payton S. Gendron had pre-empted the massacre in one of the most racially segregated metropolitan areas in the United States.
The Buffalo Police have released the names of the 10 victims of the shooting, which include older shoppers and four of the supermarket’s employees. One of those killed was a 55-year-old supermarket security guard, Aaron Salter. Salter was identified as a ‘hero’ for confronting the gunman at the entrance of the supermarket.
Several of the victims were active in their local communities; 77-year-old Pearly Young ran a weekly food bank, 72-year-old Katherine Massey wrote about gun violence in her community, and 67-year-old Heyward Patterson volunteered in his local church.
“Buffalo is one of the most racially segregated areas in the United States.”
Two days prior to the attack, the suspect shared the motivations behind the killings in a manifesto on Google Docs. The document included anti-semitic and white supremacist memes and frequent mentions of targeting Black people. It also cited the ‘great replacement theory’.
The ‘great replacement theory’ is a popular far-right extremist ideology that refers to the idea that pro-immigration policies are a threat to the ‘white race’ and are a scheme to replace white Americans with immigrants and people of colour. The shooter used this theory to justify his position as an “eco-fascist”, and blamed climate change on “mass migration”.
The suspect was eventually confronted by police at the front of the supermarket and the officers persuaded him to drop the gun and surrender.
Buffalo is one of the most racially segregated areas in the United States. According to a 2021 report, large numbers of African Americans in Buffalo are living in poverty and dying prematurely to poor health conditions like heart disease, stroke, and asthma. With high levels of unemployment and limited educational attainment, researchers claim that the absence of an action plan has led to the worsening of these conditions over the past 30 years.
Mass shootings and Social Media
The mass shooting was live-streamed on the platform Twitch, owned by Amazon, for around two minutes before it was removed. These platforms have a history of being used to spread white supremacist ideology and orchestrate terrorist attacks, such as those that occurred in El Paso and Dayton. However, these videos are still saved by some viewers and then re-uploaded across other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
Social media experts have argued companies ‘could do more’ to prevent violent content from being shared. NPR’s Bobby Allyn suggests Twitch should make it more difficult for individuals to instantly Livestream videos.
New York’s “Red Flag” Gun Law
The killings raise concerns surrounding the effectiveness of New York’s ‘red flag’ gun law. This gun law means that individuals considered dangerous cannot buy a weapon.
However, Gendron was able to purchase an AR-15-style rifle despite being investigated last year over a threat made at his high school.
Red-flag laws have a history of being enforced following massacres, an example being the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the state is investigating further into whether the proper protocol was followed.
The Arrest
Critics have highlighted the moderate treatment Gendron faced during his arrest in comparison to that of the fatal police shootings of unarmed Black people, who are three times more likely to be fatally shot than a white person.
Journalist and Scholar Steven Thrasher compared how the Associated Press referred to Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old shot by a white police officer as a “man” whilst labelling the white gunman of the Buffalo shooting as a “white teenager”.
Various studies have highlighted how Black children are dehumanised, often perceived and treated as older and “less innocent” than children of other races[14].
Gendron has been charged with first-degree murder and his next hearing is set for June 9.
Image courtesy of Jonathan Rivera via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image
Vanessa Igoe
Vanessa is a broadcast journalist completing a master's at City University. She freelances for BBC Radio 4 and is a researcher for Ted X's Climate Curious podcast. In her spare time, she loves making and watching documentaries.