Horrific news out of Buffalo, as reports of an white supremacist unleashing havoc on a supermaket surfaced online Saturday afternoon.

Local news indicated that ten people were pronounced dead and three others were wounded. According to Buffalo News the gunman was dressed in body armour and had a high powered rifle.

While some on the internet may rush to discount the possible racist motive for an attack on a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood, Erie County Sheriff John Garcia confirmed the racist motive.

“It was,” he said. “Straight up, a racially motivated hate crime.”

Reportedly, 11 of 13 victims were Black. The Tops supermarket was located on Jefferson Ave. in a majority Black working class community. New York Times reporter Evan Hill tweeted the shooter was expected to be arrainged on first-degree murder charges.

Buffalo shooter (still not officially identified) to be arraigned within the hour on first-degree murder charge. Officials say case will be investigated as racially-motivated domestic violent extremism. Eleven of thirteen victims were black. 10 are dead. https://t.co/i2Apf8pUS1

— Evan Hill (@evanhill) May 14, 2022

Reports indicate the gunman left behind a manifesto. Leading disinformation experts have encouraged people to not share the livestream of the massacre or the manifesto out of concerns for helping the extremist carry out his agenda.

Clips from the Christchurch shooting livestream and copies of the El Paso shooter’s manifesto continue to be shared online to this day. These people know exactly what they’re doing when they stream their murders and post hateful manifestos online.

— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) May 14, 2022

The incident has drawn comparison to other mass shootings by white supremacist like the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh three years ago.

Democratic candidate for governor, Tom Souzzi tried to politicize the situation making it about needing to be tougher on crime. He should be more concerned about the families who lost loved ones and the tender way police arrested the suspected shooter.

Newsflash, tough on crime policies tend to disproportionately impact the same communities targeted by white supremacist like the Tops Supermarket shooter.

“Successful?” @Reyna4NY and I are in Buffalo right now, @KathyHochul’s hometown. Multiple people were just shot and killed at an East Side @TopsMarkets supermarket. Hochul refuses to make fighting crime a priority. I will. https://t.co/tmxfuhh1pT

— Tom Suozzi (@Tom_Suozzi) May 14, 2022

Souzzi tried to capitalize on the horrific incident to take a jab at current Gov. Kathy Hochul. Prior to the news of the Buffalo shooting Hochul was quoted as describing the alleged success of her anti-crime measures.

Conversations about addressing mass shootings require more than tough on crime rhetoric. But also ignoing the way police always seem to manage to arrest white gunmen without incident is astonishing.

Far too many instances of Black and other people of color being killed in the last year alone raise questions as to how police managed to arrest a person who murdered ten people and injured at least three others. All without so much as a misplaced hair on his head.

Amir Locke, Patrick Lyoya and Cedric Lofton all deserved a modicum of the same respsect for life that the Tops gunman received Saturday.

Dr. Anthea Butler reposted an article she wrote nearly seven years ago about the disparities between shooters of color and white shooters being positioned as “mentally ill.”
“In public discussions, black children often morph into potentially menacing adults after they’ve been victimized, while white mass shooters are portrayed as children, even if they’re well into their 20s,” wrote Butler.

There will invariaby be thse who try to distract from the horrific nature of this massacre by pointing to the false narrative of “Black-on-Black” crime or other forms of gun violence. But the act of terror inflicted on the surrounding community should not be overlooked in this moment.

SEE ALSO:
Fox Amplifies False Narrative About Racial Justice Protests Leading To Increased Murder Rates In 2020

OP-ED: Gun Violence Is A Public Health Crisis That Demands Public Health Solutions