The President of the United States, Joe Biden, vehemently denounced, Tuesday, May 17, the » poison « of white supremacism, after a racist massacre which made ten victims, Saturday May 14, in Buffalo, in the State of New York. He also spoke of an act of « terrorism ».
That day, Payton Gendron drove more than three hours from his village to the Tops Friendly Market supermarket in a black neighborhood of Buffalo. Dressed in combat gear, a helmet and equipped with a camera, he had with him a semi-automatic weapon, engraved with the number « 14 », which refers, in the world of white supremacists, to the phrasing : “We must protect the existence of our people and secure a future for white people. » The 18-year-old parked the car that belonged to his parents. Then, around 2:30 p.m., he started shooting. He murdered ten people, including six store employees, and injured three others. Eleven of the victims were black. The killer then left the store, and was arrested by the police.
Evoking the racist thesis of the “great replacement” – to which Payton Gendron adheres – Joe Biden, moved and solemn, asserted: “I call on all Americans to reject this lie and condemn anyone who spreads it to gain power, votes, money. »
“Too much fuel for hate”
“Those who claim to love America have given too much fuel to hate and fear”launched the Democrat again, without however mentioning names or partisan affiliation. “This venom, this violence cannot be the history of our time”he argued, while the United States has experienced several killings in recent years targeting African-Americans, Jews and people of Latin American origin.
Joe Biden began his speech with words of comfort for families: « the time will come » where the memory of the disappeared “will put a smile on your lips before bringing tears to your eyes”promised this president whose life has been dotted with family dramas.
He listed the names, recalled that a victim was broke while buying « strawberries to make his favorite pastry »that another wanted candy “for a family movie night”that a man had been killed while coming to collect » a birthday cake « for her little boy. The American president made a point of recounting briefly the lives put at the service of a community and of families, mentioning an old lady who went every day to take care of her husband residing in a retirement home, or a supervisor of the supermarket having tried unsuccessfully to arrest the killer.
Previously, the American president and his wife Jill Biden had stopped at an improvised memorial at the scene of the killing. Jill Biden laid an armful of white flowers. Joe Biden, after removing his sunglasses, signed himself.
“Ban Assault Weapons”
The president again called on Tuesday to regulate firearms: “I am not naive. I know the tragedy will happen again (…) But there are things we can do. We can ban assault weapons from our streets. » The Democrat has long called on Congress to ban assault weapons — like the one used on Sunday. A decision that has always come up against a Republican opposition hostile to any kind of regulation.
The organization Gun Violence Archive counts already this year more than two hundred “mass shootings” in the United States, in which at least four people were injured or killed. Including the one perpetrated on Saturday by Payton Gendron, who claimed « fascist », « racist » and « anti-Semite » in a 180-page manifesto.
This racist massacre has been meticulously prepared for months, media revealed on Tuesday that peeled hundreds of messages on the Internet from the killer. According to the washington post and CNNwho had access to some 600 pages of messages exchanged on the Discord and 4chan networks, Payton Gendron came to Buffalo on March 8 and visited the supermarket three times – at 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tops Friendly Market, which he attacked on Saturday, to do some scouting.
Payton Gendron also writes in December that he wants to kill black people and in February he targets this supermarket because of its high proportion of African-Americans, according to the Washington Post. The newspaper also peeled the manifesto of 180 pages of the young man, who describes himself as “simply a white man who seeks to protect and serve [sa] community, [son] people, [sa] culture and [sa] race « . Pages of the manifesto plan, minute by minute, the attack, the equipment and the broadcast on the Twitch platform.
Payton Gendron is currently being prosecuted for « premeditated murder » and is due to appear before a judge on Thursday.