New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Sunday said the alleged gunman who fatally shot 10 people in Buffalo, N.Y. one day earlier “is not going to see the light of day again.”
“This individual is not gonna see the light of day again, you know, whether it’s under federal prosecution or state under our domestic terrorism laws or just murder one. This person murdered 10 innocent victims in our community just yesterday,” Hochul told moderator Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
A gunman opened fire at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, striking 13 people. Eleven of the victims were Black. Authorities are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
Police said the gunman, identified as 18-year-old Payton Gendron on Conklin, N.Y., who is white, traveled hours to arrive at the supermarket, which is located in a predominantly Black area. The shooter was dressed in military gear and broadcast the attack from a helmet camera on Twitch, a live streaming platform.
Gendron was arraigned on Saturday night on one count of first-degree murder.
A manifesto written by the alleged shooter had reportedly been posted to the online forum 4chan prior to the attack. Hochul told CBS that the state is “taking proactive measures to make sure that we’re monitoring all social media platforms because this information was out there, this was on a manifesto that was written a while back.”
“We’re very concerned about what other information is perpetrated out there on social media platforms, and are out there being disseminated globally,” she added.
The governor said the alleged gunman’s intent was “telegraphed in advance, so I’m calling on social media platforms to be making sure that they’re doing a better job monitoring the hate speech that’s out there, especially when it’s directed against populations and it comes in the guise of white supremacy terrorism which is exactly what happened here in Buffalo.”