18-year-old Payton Gendron killed 10 people at a Buffalo, NY supermarket this week, injuring three others. There have been over 200 mass shootings already in the first five months of 2022, and Gendron’s senseless act of violence is yet another sobering reminder of the prevalence of white supremacy that exists in the U.S.

The teenage killer was reportedly obsessed with the Christchurch shootings in New Zealand, using that attack as an inspiration for his own killing spree in New York.

Authorities believe Gendron scoped out Buffalo for at least a day before the attacks, and even researched the highest concentration of Black residents in his vicinity. “This individual came here with the express purpose of taking as many Black lives as he could,” said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown at a press conference.

There’s also the matter of the 180-page document circulating online that was rumored to have been written by Gendron in the weeks leading up to his attack. Although he is not yet the confirmed author, there is reason to believe the manifesto can and will be attributed to him in the coming days and weeks.

In the document, Gendron identifies himself as a white supremacist and labels the attack as an example of domestic terrorism.

An article in Fox 6 News reads:

“According to the Associated Press, the document outlined a racist ideology rooted in a belief that the United States should belong only to white people. All others, the document said, were ‘replacers’ who should be eliminated by force or terror. The attack was intended to intimidate all non-White, non-Christian people and get them to leave the country, it said.”

Not only did Gendron murder 10 people in cold blood while livestreaming it on Twitch, he once threatened to shoot up his former high school, Susquehanna High School, in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania around the time of his graduation. Although the Twitch livestream only lasted for a couple of minutes, many have criticized the company for allowing Gendron to stream it at all, for any duration of time.

Criticism has also been leveled at the online platforms responsible for radicalizing Gendron and compelling him to commit this atrocious act.

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “The CEOs of those companies need to be held accountable and assure all of us that they’re taking every step humanly possible to be able to monitor this information. How these depraved ideas are fermenting on social media — it’s spreading like a virus now.”

Another article in Fox 5 NY quotes Governor Hochul during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “People are sharing these ideas. They’re sharing videos of other attacks. And they’re all copycat. They all want to be the next great white hope that’s going to inspire the next attack.”

Twitch responded with a statement of their own that reads:

“We are devastated to hear about the shooting that took place in Buffalo, New York. 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.”

Gendron has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The names of his victims are as follows:

Aaron Salter Jr., 55

Ruth Whitfield, 86

Katherine Massey, 72

Heyward Patterson, 67

Pearly Young, 77

Roberta Drury, 32

Celestine Chaney, 65

Marcus D. Morrison, 52

Andre MacNeil, 53

Geraldine Talley, 62

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