This past Saturday, one gunman carried out an attack that left 10 people dead and three wounded inside a grocery store in Buffalo and allegedly chose this particular establishment due to extremist ideology and racial hatred. He was taken into custody by law enforcement and has since pleaded not guilty to all charges on Saturday evening.
Allegedly, the shooter live-streamed the entire tragic event via Twitch and drove for multiple “hours” to the area to carry out the attack. Police officials have made the claim that the shooter chose the Tops Friendly Market located in Buffalo due to the observed racial demographics of the local community in which the market was centered.
“This was pure evil, ” exclaimed John Garcia, the Sheriff of Erie County, during a press conference held on Saturday to speak on the subject. “Straight up racially motivated, hate crime from somebody outside of our community — outside of the City of Good Neighbors, as the mayor said — coming into our community and trying to inflict evil upon us.”
As stated by the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Buffalo field office, Stephen Belongia, this tragic event is being carefully investigated as “both a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism.”
President Joe Biden has also put forth a statement concerning the shooting incident via White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“The President and the First Lady are praying for those who have been lost and for their loved ones,” stated Jean-Pierre in a release. She then added that Biden will be continually updated on the incident throughout the evening.
Late Saturday, Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul claimed via Twitter, “We must confront the threat that white supremacism poses to our society head-on. I have directed the @nyspolice Hate Crimes Task Force to assist in the investigation of the heinous shooting in Buffalo today.”
“Four store employees, including a security guard, were among the victims. Eleven of the shooting victims are Black, two are white,” stated Joseph Gramaglia, the Buffalo Police Commissioner, to the media, as reported by NBC News.
Allegedly, the shooter “posted a 106-page manifesto online where he described himself as a ‘white supremacist’ and ‘anti-semite’ prior to livestreaming the attack on Twitch,” read a report from The Daily Caller.
As reported by those who have viewed the shooter’s manifesto, the shooter also allegedly was a promoter of green nationalism along with white supremacy and neo-nazism. He also directly calls out and attacks Fox News throughout the document.
Twitch has since deleted the shooter’s livestream coverage of the attack and permanently banned the account used from the website.
“We are devastated to hear about the shooting that took place this afternoon in Buffalo, New York,” stated a release from the titanic streaming service company. “Our hearts go out to the community impacted by this tragedy. Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against violence of any kind and works swiftly to respond to all incidents. The user has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content.”
This past Saturday, it was tweeted out by Buffalo reporter Kelsey Granderson, “He is charged with murder in the first degree and his lawyer says he is pleading not guilty. Forensic exam requested by lawyer.”
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