U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Buffalo shooting came 8 months after NY newspaper warned of congresswoman's racist conspiracy theory



Saturday's mass shooting in New York occurred less than eight months after a local newspaper scolded a Republican congresswoman for pushing the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory.

"A white 18-year-old wearing military gear and live-streaming with a helmet camera opened fire with a rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, killing 10 people and wounding three others Saturday in what authorities described as 'racially motived violent extremism.' The gunman wore body armor and military-style clothing during the attack on mostly Black shoppers and workers at Tops Friendly Market," the Times Union reported Saturday.

The suspect was identified by the newspaper as Payton Gendron, of Conklin, New York.

Prior to the shooting, the white 18-year-old reportedly posted a 106-page manifesto citing the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory as motivation.

In September of 2021, the newspaper's editorial board wrote about the conspiracy theory.

"Back in 2017, white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Va., carrying torches and chanting, 'You will not replace us' and 'Jews will not replace us.' Decent Americans recoiled at the undeniable echo of Nazi Germany," began the editorial, which was illustrated with a photo of the notorious Charlottesville tiki torch march.

"That rhetoric has been resonating ever since in the right wing, repackaged lately in what’s known as 'replacement theory,' espoused by conservative media figures like Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. And it has seeped into the mainstream political discourse in the Capital Region, where Rep. Elise Stefanik has adapted this despicable tactic for campaign ads," the editorial board wrote.

Stefanik, the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, is the third-ranking Republican in Congress.

"Ms. Stefanik isn’t so brazen as to use the slogans themselves; rather, she couches the hate in alarmist anti-immigrant rhetoric that’s become standard fare for the party of Donald Trump. And she doesn’t quite attack immigrants directly; instead, she alleges that Democrats are looking to grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants in order to gain a permanent liberal majority, or, as she calls it, a 'permanent election insurrection.' Quite a choice of words, of course, considering that the country is still suffering the aftershocks of the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington by supporters of Mr. Trump who tried to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election," the newspaper wrote.

The editorial board wrote that Stefanik knew what she was doing was wrong.

"The Harvard-educated Ms. Stefanik surely knows the sordid history and context of this. The idea of stoking racial, ethnic, and religious tribalism among voters dates back to this country’s earliest days. At various times, politicians have warned that Catholics, Jews, or Muslims were out to change the “culture,” or that Irish, Italian, Asian or eastern European immigrants would take the jobs — to 'replace' white, Protestant Americans," the editorial board explained. "If there’s anything that needs replacing in this country — and in the Republican party — it’s the hateful rhetoric that Ms. Stefanik and far too many of her colleagues so shamelessly spew."

Stefanik did not mention racism in her statement on the shooting, but did mention National Police Week.

Stefanik is not the only Republican member of Congress with history on the issue.

Also in September of 2021, after the Anti-Defamation League called on the network to fire Tucker Carlson for pushing the racist conspiracy theory, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) declared the ADL "a racist organization" and claimed Carlson "is CORRECT about Replacement Theory as he explains what is happening to America."

https://www.rawstory.com/elise-stefanik-great-replacement/

[Rick Plant]

Buffalo mass shooter cited racist 'Great Replacement' conspiracy theory in 106-page manifesto: report

The suspect in a Buffalo mass shooting reportedly live streamed the massacre on Twitch and posted a 106-page manifesto pushing a racist conspiracy theory prior to the attack.

"A man has opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York while live-streaming on Twitch, killing at least 10 people and injuring several others, local officials and witnesses say," BNO News reported Saturday. "A 106-page online manifesto, believed to have been uploaded by the shooter, explained that he was motivated by a conspiracy theory that white people are being replaced by other races. In the document, he says he is 18 years old and a self-described white supremacist and anti-semite."

J.J. MacNab, a researcher at George Washington University program on extremism, studied the 106-page manifesto allegedly posted by the shooter.

"He self identifies as a white supremacist fascist with Neo-Nazi beliefs who is anti "high fertility immigrants" under the white replacement theory. There are several 4chan markers," she explained. "He states that he was radicalized online on 4chan and was inspired by Brenton Tarrant's manifesto and livestreamed mass shooting in New Zealand."

Anti-racism educator Tim Wise says those who push racist conspiracy theories are to blame for the inevitable violence that ensues.

"The Buffalo shooter's manifesto rants about immigration & white birthrates, both of which feature prominently in mainstream conservative & MAGA rhetoric. And he embraces an explicitly accelerationist rationale for violence...hoping to cause further strife and societal collapse... Those who spread these ideas are to blame, not just the ones who pull the trigger," he explained. "There is nowhere else replacement theory rhetoric and logic can lead except for violence. It is inevitable..."

Fox News personality Tucker Carlson has been the most prominent proponent pushing the conspiracy theory. In 2021, the president of the Anti-Defamation League demanded Fox News fire the anchor for pushing the conspiracy theory on his primetime show.

"Another white supremacist terrorist has committed mass murder, inspired by the 'great replacement' thinking pushed regularly by Tucker Carlson and others on the right. Blood is on their hands, 100%," Wise said. "The white supremacist groups peddling this sh*t like the Groyper/Nick Fuentes/America First bigots, need to be sued out of existence for inspiring this terrorism. Vicarious liability. End them."

The suspect reportedly used an assault rifle to carry out the attack.

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen

NEW: A mass shooter in Buffalo, NY who killed at least 10 people had posted a manifesto online espousing the White Replacement Theory, per @BNONews.

White Replacement Theory has been long promoted and championed by Tucker Carlson on Fox News.

NEW: A mass shooter in Buffalo, NY who killed at least 10 people had posted a manifesto online espousing the White Replacement Theory, per @BNONews.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1525581101623758848

Authorities held a press conference on the shooting.

"This was pure evil," said Erie County Sheriff John Garcia.

"It was a straight up, racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community, outside of the city of good neighbors as the mayor said, coming into our community and trying to inflict that evil upon us," he said.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

'Blatantly racist' element of society is a domestic terrorism threat: Buffalo's congressman



The congressman who represents Buffalo, New York in Congress warned of racist domestic terrorism after an 18-year-old white man allegedly murdered ten people at a mass shooting being investigated as a hate crime.

The suspect reportedly wrote a 106-page manifesto pushing the racist "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory espoused by Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.

Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY) discussed the racist dynamics of the attack in an interview with CNN's Pamela Brown.

Higgins noticed the investigation was in its early stages, but said it appears "cohesive in terms of the motivation."

"This was an individual that was from outside our area, he was not from Buffalo. He came to Buffalo heavily armed with at least an AK-47 that was modified, killed ten people, three people are in the hospital, expected to recover. but this is a sad day for Buffalo, a sad day for the nation," he explained.

"There's premeditation. when you make a charge against somebody, you have to put all those pieces together. but even in the preliminary information that we have, clearly this is an individual that selected Buffalo, selected an area of Buffalo that is predominantly African-American, from outside the area. That is not coincidental," he argued. "And we believe, and law enforcement officials believe, that this is part of an organized effort to attack the minority community generally and the community of Buffalo as its target."

"When you say part of an organized effort, what do you mean by that?" Brown asked.

"That there is an element in our society that is blatantly racist, and they're violent and this is clearly an indication of domestic violence. There was -- you know, he live-streamed the horrific detail in real time of this murder of innocent people," he explained.

He warned racism is a threat to the country.

"And so all indications are, this points to an effort to exact domestic terrorism that is racially motivated on a community. But that threat to our community in Buffalo and western New York is a threat to the nation," he said.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Buffalo shooter's manifesto shows folly of 'lone wolf' theory when there is an 'apparatus of hate': analysis



The existence of a racist manifesto reportedly posted online by an 18-year-old white male before killed ten people in a mass shooting rampage in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York shows the limits of a "lone wolf" theory explaining how people are radicalized, a CNN homeland security analyst explained on Saturday.

Juliette Kayyem was interviewed about a 106-page manifesto pushing the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory that was reportedly written by the suspect whose rampage is being investigated as a hate crime.

CNN's Pamela Brown inteviewed Kayyem after the network's Brian Stelter reported the online video company Twitch confirmed the suspect live-streamed the shooting.

"There's two issues going on. So you can say that someone acted alone and that's what we tend to think of as lone wolf, that it's not five people or ten people or orchestrated attack. But the idea of a lone wolf, I think, I've been saying for a couple of years should be put to rest, because in every single up with of these cases, you're seeing an apparatus that essentially supported their hate," she explained.

"Now that might not have been an apparatus that told them to do this on that date, but these are people who are getting radicalized by an ecosystem of hate. this is what the FBI has been documenting for over a decade, it's what we mean in government when we violent extremism," she explained. "Lone wolf makes sound like they woke up one day and just decided to kill a bunch of Black people. That just doesn't happen."

"The reason why the manifesto is relevant is it will show where did that apparatus and the hate come from," she explained. "Lone wolf excuses an apparatus of hate that exists in this country and is the number one terror threat in this country right now."

That apparatus was in full display in 2021 when Fox News personality Tucker Carlson pushed the same "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory. When the Anti-Defamation League called on the network to fire the host, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) called the ADL "a racist organization" and claimed Carlson "is CORRECT about Replacement Theory as he explains what is happening to America."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski

Elise Stefanik must be so proud to have worked so hard to advance the ideas that drove a white nationalist to mass murderer.



https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1525644218156437505


Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski

AZ State Senator Wendy Rogers is saying that the Buffalo mass murder was a false flag operation by the FBI. She must be removed from office immediately. The AZ GOP is a damn disgrace.



https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1525672875717427207


Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski

What is happening to America is racist, white nationalist POS have advanced to very influential positions of power in the government and media, and their toxic ideas are being acted upon by deranged cult members they derive their power and income from.



https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1525645360512831489


Elise Stefanik invokes racist 'great replacement' theory in campaign ads

The white nationalist 'great replacement' theory continues to grow in popularity within the Republican ranks.



New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the third-ranked Republican in the House, began running a series of campaign ads on Facebook on Wednesday invoking a racist conspiracy theory that falsely alleges that immigrants are being invited to the United States to replace white voters.

The campaign for Stefanik, who is up for reelection in November 2022 for New York's 22nd Congressional District, is promoting ads that read:" Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Nancy Pelosi are attempting to flood our voter roles with 11 MILLION NEW VOTERS by giving illegal immigrants amnesty."

The ads link to a fundraising page featuring similar copy, which alleges, "Democrats want citizenship for 11 MILLION illegal immigrants… so they can stuff the ballot box for socialism."

Stefanik's ads make reference to efforts made by Democrats, including President Joe Biden, to create a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 10.3 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States.

The ads also invoke the conspiracy theory known as "the great replacement," which the Anti-Defamation League has defined as "the hateful notion that the white race is in danger of being 'replaced' by a rising tide of non-whites."

Messages that promote the theory have become increasingly common among Republican elected officials and in conservative media.

In 2016, as he was running for office, former President Donald Trump said, "I think this will be the last election that the Republicans have a chance of winning because you’re going to have people flowing across the border, you're going to have illegal immigrants coming in and they're going to be legalized and they're going to be able to vote and once that all happens you can forget it."

Fox News has also latched on to the message and many of its on-air personalities have spent the ensuing years repeating and amplifying the racist smear.

The most prominent advocate on the network has been host Tucker Carlson, who has invoked the idea on numerous occasions.

"I have less political power because they are importing a brand new electorate. Why should I sit back and take that?" Carlson said on the April 8 edition of his program.

In an April 9 letter to Fox News executives, Anti-Defamation League CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt called on Fox News to fire Carlson for using the trope.

"It is dangerous race-baiting, extreme rhetoric. And yet, unfortunately, it is the culmination of a pattern of increasingly divisive rhetoric used by Carlson over the past few years," the letter read.

But Carlson was undeterred. On April 12, Carlson said on his program, "Demographic change is the key to the Democratic Party’s political ambitions." And on April 21, Carlson told his audience, "You're being replaced, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Other Fox News hosts, including Laura Ingraham, Brian Kilmeade, and Jesse Watters, have also promoted the same racist "replacement" trope.

And Republicans in Congress have followed suit.

In a campaign video released on April 11, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) falsely claimed that Democrats "want borders wide open," alleging that this "helped Democrats take over the entire state of California" in the past.

During a congressional hearing on April 14, Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) claimed, "We’re replacing national-born American — native-born Americans to permanently transform the political landscape of this very nation."

Two days later, on April 16, while appearing on Fox Business, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) attacked Democrats on immigration, asking, "Is it really they want to remake the demographics of America, to ensure their — that they stay in power forever? Is that what's happening here?"

The theory has had deadly real-world implications. It was cited in a manifesto left behind by the white supremacist who shot and killed 51 people and injured 40 in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. The idea was also invoked by neo-Nazis who protested in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, using the slogan, "Jews will not replace us."

https://americanindependent.com/elise-stefanik-campaign-racist-great-replacement-theory-house-republicans-tucker-carlson/


Elise Stefanik Blasted for 'Despicable' Facebook Ads Pushing 'Replacement Theory'



New York Rep. Elise Stefanik was blasted by her hometown newspaper over "despicable" new Facebook ads it says push the racist "replacement theory."

"Radical Democrats are planning their most aggressive move yet: a PERMANENT ELECTION INSURRECTION," says one ad that was paid for by Stefanik's campaign. The text accompanied an image of numerous migrants reflected in the aviator sunglasses worn by President Joe Biden.

In a scathing editorial with the title "How low, Miss Stefanik?" published Friday, the Times Union's editorial board accused the No. 3 House Republican of touting the conspiracy theory that white people are being intentionally replaced by immigrants.

The editorial noted that white supremacists had chanted slogans such as "you will not replace us" at a 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and that "decent" Americans had "recoiled at the undeniable echo of Nazi Germany."

"That rhetoric has been resonating ever since in the right wing, repackaged lately in what's known as 'replacement theory,' espoused by conservative media figures like Fox News' Tucker Carlson," it said.

The editorial claims "replacement theory" has now "seeped into the mainstream political discourse in the Capital Region, where Rep. Elise Stefanik has adapted this despicable tactic for campaign ads.

"Ms. Stefanik isn't so brazen as to use the slogans themselves; rather, she couches the hate in alarmist, anti-immigrant rhetoric that's become standard fare for the party of Donald Trump," it continued.

"And she doesn't quite attack immigrants directly; instead, she alleges the Democrats are looking to grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants in order to gain a permanent liberal majority, or, as she calls it, a 'permanent election insurrection.'

"Quite a choice of words, of course, considering that the country is still suffering the aftershocks of the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington by supporters of Mr. Trump who tried to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election."

Stefanik's loyalty to Trump in the aftermath won her a leadership post in the House Republican caucus.

The Times Union editorial accused her of using "fear-based political tactics" that echo Trump's attacks on Mexicans and Muslims during his 2016 presidential campaign.

"The idea of America as a melting pot is not some idealistic fiction of the left; it is part of the foundation of this nation's greatness," it concluded.

"If there's anything that needs replacing in this country—and in the Republican Party—it's the hateful rhetoric that Ms. Stefanik and far too many of her colleagues so seamlessly spew."

https://www.newsweek.com/elise-stefanik-blasted-despicable-facebook-ads-pushing-replacement-theory-1630545

[Rick Plant]

The right wing fascist assault on our freedoms and personal lives continues.   

Oklahoma's GOP governor threatens the state's more than 40 Native American tribes



Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, has warned the states of many Native American tribes that if they allow abortion on sovereign land he will intervene.

“Oklahomans will not think very well of that if tribes try to set up abortion clinics," Stitt said on Fox News Sunday.

“You know, the tribes in Oklahoma are super liberal,” he said. “They go to Washington, D.C. They talk to President [Joe] Biden at the White House; they kind of adopt those strategies. So yeah, we think that there’s a possibility that some tribes may try to set up abortion on demand. They think that you can be 1/1,000th tribal member and not have to follow the state law. And so that’s something that we’re watching.”

Native American tribes are allowed to govern themselves on their own land. Their sovereignty is the reason that they can have things like casinos in states where it is banned. Once known as Indian Territory, the state has more than 40 tribes in its borders.

It was just last month that Oklahoma politicians faced off against tribes in an ongoing refusal to cooperate with the Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma.

"In the McGirt ruling, the Supreme Court held that much of eastern Oklahoma is Indian country under the terms of an 1833 treaty between the U.S. government and the Muscogee Creek Nation," explained Professor Kirsten Matoy Carlson of Wayne State University. "Based on that treaty and an 1885 federal law, the ruling effectively means that the state of Oklahoma cannot prosecute crimes committed by or against American Indians there. Federal and tribal officials are the only ones who can pursue these cases."

Oklahoma's state government has asked the Supreme Court to rehear the case over 40 times. Under the existing Supreme Court rulings, about 43% of Oklahoma is ruled by tribal lands. It ultimately means that the GOP governor doesn't have control over the whole state when it comes to his laws.

There has been a conversation among activists searching for loopholes in anticipation of the unmaking of Roe v.Wade that putting clinics under tribal lands could be possible. Such a decision would require involvement by tribal councils, however. Sources involved in the tribal government of one Oklahoma tribe told Raw Story that many are unlikely to rock the boat.

If Stitt and others in the Oklahoma legislature attempt to restrict the tribes under the guise that they are trying to stop abortions, they could end up in a considerable legal battle over the right for Native tribes to govern themselves.

Stitt is up for reelection in November.

https://www.rawstory.com/oklahoma-native-american-sovereignty-kevin-stitt/

[Rick Plant]

The Republican Party and the right wing media continues to make Americans unsafe. Their violent and racist rhetoric based on lies, incites white nationalists and supremacists to commit these heinous acts of violence. The Republican Party made a hero out of murderer Kyle Rittenhouse in their own party as they elevate the worst people you can think of. We have a serious problem with white supremacy which Donald Trump ignited as Republicans and the right wing media embrace. GOP Reps. Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene speak at white nationalist conventions and members of the GOP had contact with proud boys posing for pictures. It's only going to get worse as the GOP aims their violent rhetoric at Democrats and groups they do not like. Republicans and the right wing media downplay these acts of violence as a "mental health problem" when we have white supremacy and a gun problem that they continue to ignore.         

Conservative warns Buffalo shooter's ideology is mainstream to right-wing — while Fox dodges their role



The Buffalo, New York shooter has been exposed as a racist man who believes in the conspiracy theory that Democratic leaders are attempting to replace white people with people of color. Known as "great replacement" theory, the Fox network has been responsible for elevating the idea to its millions of viewers many times.

Washington Post columnist Max Boot, a conservative, explained that this kind of ideology has become mainstream not just on the Fox network but also in the Republican Party. Writing Sunday, Boot recalled the conservative writer who coined the phrase “ideas have consequences.”

Already some are blaming Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) for promoting the theory to New York residents in interviews and online.

"The young man wrote that he got his beliefs 'mostly from the Internet,' specifically from the 4chan bulletin board where white supremacists congregate," Boot noted. "But his repugnant views are not confined to an obscure corner of the Internet. They have become mainstream within the Republican Party."

It's the same brand of racism that the Christchurch shooter espoused when he killed 51 people at two mosques in 2019.

“Why is diversity said to be our greatest strength?” the Buffalo shooter's manifesto asked. “Said throughout the media, spoken by politicians, educators and celebrities. But no one ever seems to give a reason why. What gives a nation strength? And how does diversity increase that strength?”

It's what Fox host Tucker Carlson asked in 2018.

“How, precisely, is diversity our strength?" Carlson asked of his audience. "Since you’ve made this our new national motto, please be specific as you explain it. Can you think, for example, of other institutions such as, I don’t know, marriage or military units in which the less people have in common, the more cohesive they are?”

Fox has spent most of the time after the shooting refusing to even use the words "great replacement." Instead, they're trying to dodge accountability by parroting the NRA line that guns aren't the problem, mental health is.



Yet, gun advocates have opposed any rules that would regulate guns among the mentally ill. The current law stands that no person who has been institutionalized to buy a gun.

Boot cited Republican politicians like Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL), Rep. Scott Perry (PA) and Sen. Ron Johnson (WI), who have all openly promoted the so-called “great replacement” theory.

He went on to cite Arizona Senate candidate Black Masterson, who tweeted after the shooting. “The Democrats want open borders so they can bring in and amnesty **tens of millions** of illegal aliens — that’s their electoral strategy.”

Republican J.D. Vance, who is running as the GOP's Ohio Senate nominee and is bankrolled by billionaire Peter Thiel, explained that Democrats are not only opening the borders to create “a shift in the democratic makeup of this country.” He went on to claim that President Joe Biden is intentionally letting fentanyl into the U.S. “to kill a bunch of MAGA voters in the middle of the heartland.”

A December 2021 poll showed nearly half of all Republicans believe that there is a plot afoot to "replace" white so-called "native-born" Americans with immigrants. Native-born Americans are not to be confused with Native Americans, who trace their lineage to the first residents of the U.S. before being invaded by Europeans.

He anticipates the GOP will respond not with a policing of their own extremist leaders, but with nothing more than "thoughts and prayers."

Read the full article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/15/buffalo-shooter-hate-tucker-carlson/