the community of Buffalo is still shocked by the killing that occurred Saturday at a local supermarket, where an 18-year-old shooter killed ten people with an assault rifle while streaming the whole thing live on Twitch. She had it all planned, every step, every move. researchers point to racial hatred as a motive for the attack, while trying to confirm the authenticity of a manifesto circulating on social networks, which would have been written by the murderer.
The text is a pamphlet loaded with messages of hate, anti-Semitism, racism, conspiracy theories, memes and even an unusual mention of Argentina. It also contains a sketch of the scene of the slaughter, along with a step-by-step planning of the execution, from the beginning of the live broadcast to the chosen weapons.
Police sources investigated the veracity of the text, although they preferred not to confirm yet if it is the authorship of the shooter. What they were able to tell the AP agency is that they work together with the parents of the detained boy, identified as Payton S. Gendron, who turned himself in to authorities after the attack.
Ten people died in the attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, United States, they point to an attack out of racial hatred. Photo: Reuters.
In the manifesto, the author had anticipated that he would surrender in case of being surrounded.
For now, the preliminary investigation determined that Gendron I saw white supremacist websites and racist conspiracy theoriesand had studied the Christchurch massacre in New Zealand in 2019 and the massacre in Norway in 2011, the source said.
In addition, it transpired that the young man had already threatened a massacre at school, for which he was taken to psychological treatment, according to sources in the case reported to the AP agency.
A text full of hate
The alleged Buffalo shooter’s manifesto began circulating on social media shortly after the massacre. Is about a text of 180 sheets loaded with anti-semitism and racismwhere the author tries to justify the attacks based on a supposed advance against the “white population”, based on the conspiracy theory known as “The great replacement”.
Payton Gendron, the Buffalo shooter, arrested by police. (Photo Erie County District Attorney / via REUTERS)
It states that Western society is under attack by the low birth rates of “white people”, which is also surpassed by the high birth rate of “immigrants”, which —according to the author— they will replace them in the next few years. This is a very popular view among far right forums American and even in some mass media.
Proponents of this theory also hold the dangerous theory that it is part of a plan orchestrated by a ruling elite, made up of bankers and Jewish communities, who finance a “left-wing” agenda that aims to eradicate white populations.
In the midst of this delirium, the author of the manifesto gives as an example on several occasions the Argentina, since it considers that it is “a white country”, a fact that is not consistent with the multicultural reality of the nation. Already on the first page it indicates that it is the only “white” place in the West where the birth rate exceeds the 2.06 births that are needed for that race not to lose predominance to “migrants.”
A fragment of the alleged Buffalo shooter’s manifesto, where he mentions Argentina as “a white country”
According to these data, whose source is Wikipedia, the country has an index of 2.24. Throughout the manifesto, the author relies on a series of alternative sources and dubious data to support the construction of a story which, he affirms, motivated him to carry out the massacre.
“We’re experiencing an invasion to a level never before seen in history. Millions of people crossing our borders, legally. Invited by the state and corporate entities to replace white people who have failed to reproduce,” says the terrorist.
In his justification, races “biologically belong” to the places where they were “made to be”. “White people don’t belong in Nigeria for the same reason that black people don’t belong in England,” she argues. Even here he makes a plot pirouette, considering that Argentina is one of the few exceptions, along with Uruguay, Australia or the United States, where the territory “now belongs to whites.”
The author considers that it is “a war” and “a genocide to the descendants of Europeans”, which takes place all over the world. He further states that he “was not born a racist”, but rather “became a racist after meeting ‘The truth’“.
The plan of the supermarket that included the author of the manifesto.
He also adds that he learned about these postulates in the 4chan forums, during the months of the pandemic. The text has many similarities to the manifesto produced by Brenton Harrison Tarrant, author of the Christchurch Mosque massacre in New Zealand in 2019. Even the author of the text mentions it as “one of his inspirations”.
Throughout the 180 pages, the author publishes an enormous number of antisemitic memes, a ‘question and answer’ section on the motivations for the massacre and a detailed plan of the supermarket where the shooting took place, with a step-by-step of what his attack would be like, which he planned to end up in a predominantly black neighborhood in the area.
Also the list of weapons used and a call to action for others to “follow their task.”
how was the attack
Gendron, who lives in the Conklin area of New York state, drove more than 300 kilometers to Buffalo to attack the supermarket Tops Friendly Market. For the investigators, it is a clear sign of the racist nuance that the attacker wanted to give it, since the premises were located in an area where African-American communities predominate.
Pain at the site of the attack. (Photo Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP)
Dressed in a bulletproof vest and helmet, Gendron was equipped with an assault rifle on which he had the names of other shooters who inspired him written. To go down began to shoot accurately at people of African descent. He entered the supermarket and continued the slaughter. She knew where to go.
Among those killed was Aaron Salter, a retired police officer and security guard, who shot Gendron multiple times, Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia said. A bullet hit the assailant’s armor, but did not penetrate it. Gendron then killed Salter, before shooting the other victims.
Also dead was Ruth Whitfield, 86, the mother of retired Buffalo Fire Chief Garnell Whitfield, who in a statement to the Buffalo News praised her mother, saying “she was a mother to orphans.” She was “a blessing to all ” he added.
Another victim was Katherine Massey, who had gone to the store to shop, according to the newspaper.
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia expressly called the shooting a hate crime. “This was pure evil,” Garcia added. Twitch said in a statement that it ended Gendron’s stream “less than two minutes after the violence began.”
Gendron, confronted by police in the store’s lobby, put the rifle to his neck, but officers convinced him to drop it. He was indicted later Saturday on a murder charge and appeared before a judge in paper overalls.
A crowd gathered to mourn those killed in the shooting (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
The authorities believe that Gendron investigated the demographic composition of the area around the supermarket Tops Friendly Market and was on the lookout for communities with large African-American populations, the source said.
Yvonne Woodard, a Buffalo resident, broke down before the AP agency. “This is too much. I’m trying to compose myself but I can’t. You can’t even go to a store in peace, this is crazy,” she said.
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