Radicalized during the pandemic, the Buffalo shooter wanted to commit an even heavier massacre


Payton Gendron, accused of killing ten black people in a Buffalo supermarket, in the United States, would have started to radicalize during the Covid-19 pandemic. He would also have intended to continue his massacre if he had not been arrested.

An act of domestic terrorism driven by extreme radicalization. Payton Gendron, 18, accused of killing 10 African Americans in a Buffalo supermarket, would have intended to carry out an even bigger massacre if he had not been arrested by the police. Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told ABC News that the teenager hoped to “escape” from the supermarket he was in and “wanted to continue his attack.” The facts took place on Saturday in a district mainly frequented and inhabited by the black community of the city. The racist motive was quickly confirmed by the authorities, who announced in the wake of the tragedy that they were trying to verify the origin of a manifesto signed by the suspect’s name. In the 180-page document, he would have evoked the theory of the great replacement, believing that it was necessary to free oneself by force or terror, of all non-whites. “He intended to continue driving along Jefferson Avenue, to shoot more black people, and probably enter another location,” Joseph Gramaglia said. “It’s a perfectly planned crime, by a disgusting person,” he added.

According to the investigation, the day before the terrorist attack, Payton Gendron would have come to recognize the place. He would have already done the same on March 8. “This was clearly a racially motivated hate crime. This person is evil,” Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said. And the place would have been specifically chosen. While the shooter lives in Conklin where the population is 95% white, he would have gone to Buffalo, 320 kilometers from his home, choosing a neighborhood inhabited by a majority of African-Americans. In addition to his assault rifle, he also had two other weapons ready for use in his car.

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Radicalized during Covid-19

On Friday, the day before the shooting, he reportedly showed up unannounced at Matthew Casado, his 19-year-old best friend, and dropped off five boxes of ammunition. The young man, who was at work at the time, received a message from his friend informing him that he had “put boxes of ammunition in [sa] bedroom because he needed space to organize himself in his house,” he told ABC News. Payton Gendron would then have told him that he would pick them up in the evening, but he never showed up. Matthew Casado’s relatives ended up notifying the police. According to Matthew Casado, of Hispanic origin, his friend had never shown any racism before the crime. “Before that, I had always believed that he was a kind and safe person. He never appeared racist,” he said. “I loved Payton. He was like my second son,” added Matthew Casado’s mother. “I never had a problem with him. He was always respectful, kind to me. It breaks my heart that he did that.”

According to the first elements of the investigation, Payton Gendron would have started to radicalize during the Covid-19 pandemic, spending more and more time online reading comments and hate messages from the far right, on social networks. In May 2020, he allegedly watched video of the massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which a white supremacist killed 51 people at two mosques. He filmed his attack himself and streamed it on Twitch live. Gradually, his own posts had started to get more and more violent, especially on Discord, a popular platform where many conspiracy theories are shared. “He had become very paranoid about catching Covid, extremely paranoid, to the point that – according to his friends – he said he wanted to wear a protective suit at school”, explained his cousin to the “New York post”. “He still ended up catching her,” she said. According to her husband, the disease could even have affected the shooter’s brain and pushed him to commit his act.

“A Weird Guy”

Skylar, the girlfriend of Matthew Casado, herself African-American, does not look for him on his side any excuse. Asked by the “Daily Mail”, the 19-year-old young woman said: “I wish I had never met him. I always thought he liked me because I was Matt’s girlfriend. He was never mean to me, never showed he was racist. I didn’t know he was racist and I thought deep down that he was a nice kid, until Saturday. I just know that in first grade he started to be considered the weird guy because he didn’t talk much and none of his old friends wanted to hang out with him anymore.”

A year before Saturday’s attack, he had threatened to carry out a shooting at his high school. He was then taken to the hospital for a psychological evaluation, then released without any measure. A few months later, he was therefore able to legally buy the weapon used on Saturday at the supermarket. So far, Payton Gendron has been charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty. New hate crime and terrorism charges may be added soon.



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