Buffalo Mass Shooting: American As Apple Pie
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BUFFALO MASS SHOOTING: AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE
Statement By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Apparently, after listening and buying into Tucker Carlson’s “white replacement theory,” Payton Gendron drove 200 miles from Conklin, New York to Buffalo, dressed in military style clothing protected by bulletproof equipment and opened fire on the Tops Friendly Market killing 10 people and wounding 3 including 11 African Americans and 2 whites. An off-duty police officer providing security for the store was also one of the victims killed.
The mass killing in Buffalo was clearly racially motivated as 18-year-old Gendron had written the “N” word on one of two guns he had with him, as well as messages later discovered on his social media account. He live-streamed the event as well.
As recently as March of 2021 a similar mass shooting occurred in Boulder, Colorado in which 10 people were also killed, including a police officer.
For a shooting to be considered a mass shooting at least 4 people must be killed or wounded, and this was the 198th such mass shooting that has occurred this year. There is a consistent and dramatically rising national pattern of anti-Semitic, anti-Asian, anti-African American and anti-immigrant violence occurring consistent with the violent attack on the nation’s Capital on January 6, 2021.
This is learned behavior, taught by parents and friends, and licensed by the political climate. Such racism is not natural but taught quietly behind the walls of ignorance. No other modern industrial democracy has this level of mass violence.
What most Americans are not aware of is that the U.S. Supreme Court is not only primed to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, but they plan to issue two other decisions that will likely weaken or destroy affirmative action that will also affect women and people of color, and rule more favorably for the open carry of concealed guns with fewer regulations and little or no training.
Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a multi-racial, multi-issue, progressive, international organization that was formed in December 1996 by the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. through merging of two organizations he founded Operation PUSH People United to Serve Humanity (estab. 1971) and the Rainbow Coalition (estab. 1984). With headquarters in Chicago and offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Oakland, the organization works to make the American Dream a reality for all citizens while advocating for peace and justice around the world. RPC is dedicated to improving the lives of all people by serving as a voice for the voiceless. Its mission is to protect, defend and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields while promoting peace and justice around the world.