Buffalo Supermarket Massacre

As a Black woman, I cannot talk about this tragedy without putting myself in the story. 

At first, it was about the exhaustion I’m feeling. The second was pure anger. The third was just the facts – no emotion and that felt wrong as well. So, here we are at attempt number four. This version will embody all three of the previous attempts – the exhaustion, the anger, and the facts. 

In Buffalo, NY on Saturday, May 14th, an 18-year-old white male, and self-proclaimed white supremacist, entered the Tops Friendly Market in body armor and a helmet camera and proceeded to shoot 13 people, killing 10. Eleven of the 13 victims were Black. He did this all while live-streaming his hate crime on the streaming platform Twitch. 

A hate crime, defined by the FBI is “a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” 

The 18-year-old was identified as Payton Gendron, who resides approximately 200 miles away from Buffalo in a town called Conklin, New York. He began shooting in the parking lot, where he murdered 3 and injured 1. Gendron made his way into the building where he exchanged fire with the security guard, Aaron Salter Jr., a retired Buffalo police officer who lost his life. He then proceeded to shoot 8 more people, 6 of the 8 being fatal. 

Once the officers arrived, the Gendron was talked into surrendering by the officers. Investigators are now in the process of scanning and reading a 180-page manifesto written by the shooter that was published on a Google Doc approximately 48 hours before the mass shooting. In this document authorities discovered the following:

• Buffalo was targeted because it’s the city with the most Black residents that’s nearest to the author’s residence
• His motivation for the attack was fear of the great replacement theory. 
• The elaborate plans of the planned shooting 
• His inspiration was the man responsible for a 2019 mosque massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand — Brenton Tarrant.
• A question-and-answer section, charts of data that lend a pseudoscientific air, and pages of racist and antisemitic memes — as well as his thoughts on cryptocurrency. 

Payton Gendron was charged with first-degree murder on Saturday. He pled not guilty and is currently on suicide watch. He was reportedly remanded without bail and due back in court on Thursday. 

As a Black woman, I cannot write about this tragedy without a heart full of sorrow and grief. As a Black woman, I cannot talk about this tragedy without putting myself in the story. 

This shooting (just one in a long list of recent racially motivated attacks) has saddened and shocked many. However, it is a privilege to read this article and not feel a single ounce of fear for your life or your family’s lives. Not all of us get to read the headlines, think “wow this is just awful”, and move on with our day. That kind of fear is something that sticks with you. So, have grace for those who are hurting, scared, or are just downright angry. 

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