Buffalo get condolences from Israel
Israeli officials have conveyed their condolences to the US, to New York’s State’s Governor Kathy Hochul, and to Byron Brown, the Mayor of the City of Buffalo, following the racist shooting in the city which left 10 dead and wounded three others.
FBI agents gather at the site of yesterday’s shooting at a Tops Friendly Market grocery store in Buffalo, New York, USA, 15 May 2022. A gunman, who has been identified by authorities as 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron and is in police custody, reportedly opened fire at the market on Saturday afternoon and killed 10 people. EPA/BRANDON WATSON
Buffalo police stated that Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old who committed the shooting in a predominantly black neighbourhood in Buffalo, was motivated by racism and committed a hate crime.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia stated that “the evidence that we have uncovered so far makes no mistake that this is an absolute racist hate crime. It will be prosecuted as a hate crime. This is someone who has hate in their heart, soul and mind.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated Monday that the shooting in Buffalo was “devastating” and sent Israel’s “condolences to the families of the victims and wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded. Israel stands with our American friends at this difficult time. We’re united in the fight against racism and hate.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog commented about the “heartbreaking news from Buffalo,” and I sent his “deepest condolences to the families of the victims and a speedy recovery to the wounded. Israel stands with you at this difficult time.”
Dr Andre Oboler is the CEO of the Melbourne-based Online Hate Prevention Institute. He told J-Wire: “This terrorist attack in Buffalo is the fifth in a series that began with an Australian carrying out a deadly attack in Christchurch in 2019, and includes the attacks on syngaogues in Poway and Halle. The attacker was radicalised by the same online community in a forum called /pol/. He live-streamed his attack like those before him. He says in his manifesto that it was the video of the Christchurch attack that radicalised him. The video of his own attack continues to circulate online, potentially radicalising others. The Online Hate Prevention Institute has been tracking copies of that video, and we’ve seen the views of one copy rise from 100,000 to over 3 million, accelerating all the time. We need to do better to stop this radicalisation and future deadly attacks.”
TPS/J-WIRE
