Buffalo, the massacre live on social media: 10 dead, 18-year-old supermatist Payton Gendron arrested

Hate crime dictated by racism and terrorism. These are the leads followed by the police and the FBI for Payton Gendron, the eighteen-year-old anti-Semitic supremacist author of the Buffalo supermarket massacre, New York. The boy has already appeared in court, where he pleaded not guilty to the first degree murder charge and will remain behind bars until trial after the judge has not provided any bail for him. Wearing a mask and a white medical-style uniform, the boy spoke a few words in the courtroom where he was surrounded by police officers. He replied ‘no’ to the judge who asked him if he could afford a lawyer and, calmly and calmly, said: “I understand the accusations that are being leveled at me.” Investigations continue apace, with the FBI in the field. Investigators are hearing witnesses and reviewing all the video footage of the incident, which Gendron streamed live on Twitch for a few minutes before being suspended. Images that show the rifle with which he acted with the number 14, probably in reference to the neo-Nazi slogan of the 14 words, and above all with the writing ‘nigger’, the unpronounceable N-word in the United States because it is offensive. The boy started shooting outside the supermarket, hitting three people. Then he went in and opened fire inside. All the online traces of the boy are being examined by the authorities and in particular his 106-page manifesto in which he describes his ‘philosophy’, anticipates the massacre and tries to explain it. He describes himself as a supremacist and declares his support for the conspiracy theory of ‘Great Replacement’, which is the belief that whites are replaced in their countries by non-white immigrants resulting in the extinction of the white race. The supermarket chosen seems to confirm the racist trail, as it is located in an area of ​​African Americans, which Gendron reached driving for hours armed to the teeth, in flak jackets and in camouflage. Not to mention that among the 10 dead and the three injured, 11 people are African Americans. “It was a military-style execution on innocent people who just wanted to shop,” says New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, not hiding her anger. “Enough with the violence of firearms,” ​​she says, referring to the semi-automatic rifle used by the boy which, according to rumors, was bought illegally and then modified. Hochul also points the finger at social media that allow the spread of hatred: “The platforms must be responsible for monitoring and supervising” the contents, “aware, in cases like this, that they can be considered accomplices. Perhaps not legally but at least morally “. The incident is destined to rekindle the debate on weapons in the United States and fuel that on free speech on social media, especially now that Twitter is headed towards Elon Musk, a supporter of freedom of expression at all costs.