Reporting by Dennis Byron
An 18-year-old Payton Gendron, a known white supremacist walked into a Buffalo, New York Tops supermarket and opened fire on multiple people of color killing 10 and injuring multiple others before being he was taken into custody unharmed. According to The Associated Press, this white terrorist live streamed his approach to the supermarket before exiting his vehicle carrying an AR-15 assault riffle while wearing a high grade bullet proof vest and helmet dressed in army fatigue clothing.
Law enforcement has yet to release the killer’s name and one official stated that they didn’t want to release his name until he is formally arraigned this evening trying not to give him any “celebrity” for his murderous acts.
“He exited his vehicle. He was very heavily armed. He had tactical gear. He had a tactical helmet on. He had a camera that he was livestreaming what he was doing,” city Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said at a news conference afterward.
Gramaglia said the gunman initially shot four people outside the store, three fatally. Inside the store, a security guard who was a retired Buffalo police officer fired multiple shots at the gunman and struck him, but the bullet hit the gunman’s bulletproof vest and had no effect, Gramaglia added. The commissioner said the gunman then killed the security guard.
City of Buffalo Speaks out:
“This is the worst nightmare that any community can face, and we are hurting and we are seething right now,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at the news conference. “The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained.”
Rev. Al Sharpton called on the White House to convene a meeting with Black, Jewish and Asian “to underscore the Federal government (is) escalating its efforts against hate crimes.” In a tweet, Sharpton said that “leaders of all these communities should stand together on this!”
At the White House, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden was receiving regular updates on the shooting and the investigation and had offered prayers with the first lady for the victims and their loved ones.
“The president has been briefed by his Homeland Security advisor on the horrific shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., this afternoon. He will continue to receive updates throughout the evening and tomorrow as further information develops,” she said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the shooting, Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley said.
We spoke with Atlanta’s head of the NAACP President Gerald Griggs who stated the following:
“We have to directly address the root cause of this type of racially motivated violence in this Country. This was a racially motivated hate crime. Our Hearts and prayers go out to the people of Buffalo, the families of the deceased and injured. #BuffaloStrong”
On June 17th, 2015, white supremacist Dylan Storm Roof walked into a Charleston, SC Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and shot 9 blacks while they were praying. Roof was convicted in state court to a life sentence but ultimately he was prosecuted by the federal government and was sentenced to death. Hopefully the Buffalo shooter receives the same fate.
Read this domestic terrorist’s full manifesto where he espouses his white supremacy views below.
This is a developing story.
