The extreme attack that left 10 people killed in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, was a painful fact that added fuel to two very incendiary lines of discussion in the Big Apple: gun control and hate crimes.
According to data from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) Hate Crimes Task Force (HCTF) hate crimes in New York City have increased by 76% so far this year compared to 2021.
Specifically insults and verbal attacks against Afro-Americans doubled, with 22 incidents in contrast to 18 in the same period of the last year, NYPD reveals.
In parallel, the unfortunate massacre last Saturday, in where all the victims were black, coincides with a time when the City of New York has made several calls to attention to the federal government, to put more radical brakes on the sale of weapons throughout the country.
In fact, last Wednesday, in the midst of a sustained war against armed violence that is giving New Yorkers no respite, Mayor Eric Adams demanded that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) review some federal firearms laws, which allow revocation of the license of the company Polymer76, based in Nevada, considered the largest source of ghost gun parts used by criminals.
Faced with this new bloodshed, the Mayor reiterated his call for changes to gun laws and pointed out how easy it is to was for “someone full of hate” to acquire a weapon that could destroy so many lives.
He also demanded that social media companies take action against those who spread hate.
A dangerous crossroads
Now, at this dangerous crossroads of weapons proliferation in the streets and targeted attacks on specific racial groups, community leaders, Latinos and African-Americans of the city of New York, again demand clearer actions to put a clearer limit on the epidemic of hate.
“We are outraged by the hate crimes and mass shootings that have targeted people of color. And we are extremely discouraged by the inaction of the legislators that has led to these senseless attacks”, reacted Frankie Miranda, president of the Hispanic Federation.
This activist recalls that the memory of the shooting in El Paso that left 22 mostly Latino dead and the massacre in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando with 42 people killed.
Both attacks were considered hate crimes, the first clearly targeting Hispanic immigrants and the second members of the LGBT community.
“We should be free, to meet, without fear of being the target of hate crimes and violence due to the color of our skin, the place where we were born, our religion, our gender identity, or whom we choose to love. We urge legislators to pass gun control and other laws to prevent domestic terrorism, fueled by hate groups,” Miranda insisted.
The social media posts of the alleged gunman, Payton Gendron , aged 18 years old, suspected of the attack, confirm that he had been planning his attack for months.
The suspect, according to national media reports, had published that he selected a particular zip code in Buffalo, because it had the highest percentage of black population.
The police and intelligence bodies have described the shooting as a hate crime.
NYC elected leaders react
Furthermore, in a joint statement, the presidents of the boroughs from the Bronx, Vanessa Gibson, Mark Levine from Manhattan, Antonio Reynoso from Brooklyn and Donovan Richards from Queens indicated that it is time to ex once again reflect on the urgent need to control weapons.
“This tragedy should be a call to action and attention. Innocent residents should be able to shop at their local supermarket, without being killed by white supremacists,” they said in a statement.
For his part, Thomas A. Saenz, president of the Legal Defense Foundation Mexico – Americana (MALDEF) urged every voter this election year to ask each candidate what they will do to prevent white nationalist violence.
“Any candidate who refuses to respond or who dances the racist populist tone has no reason to govern our democracy,” the activist said.
In this same address, the Ombudsman, Jumaane Williams, wondered : “What can we do in the face of this tragedy? And what are we going to do before the next one? We called for more money to be put into the state budget for hate crime and gun violence prevention. And the petitions were not enough”.
The latest attack in NYC:
- The Buffalo massacre occurred almost a month after a gunman carried out an attack on the station 32 Street del Subway in a mostly Latin American neighborhood.
- This is the attack on the N train in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, whose only suspect is the African-American Frank James, who was arrested last 13 of April.
- The defendant who is currently facing an indictment for terrorism and the past 13 de Mayo pleaded “not guilty” in court, according to local media reports, he had launched racist messages on YouTube against “speakers of Spanish”, threatening with extermination and murder.
- Ten people were shot and more of Two dozen were injured during the attack, when the suspect donned a gas mask and opened fire inside the Manhattan-bound train.
- 207 hate crimes in the city until 10 in April, compared to 110 in the same period last year.
- 100% reported hate and rejection messages against blacks increased. 10 offenses versus 26 in what was registered this year.
- 207% attacks on Jewish communities grew, specifically 86 registered offenses versus 22 in this same period of time 2021.
- 22% Aggressions against people of Asian descent have decreased.
- 0% of assaults officially registered in the Big Apple against people of Hispanic origin who enter the hate crime classification.
X-ray of hate in NYC: