1 Year After Buffalo Mass Shooting, Western States Center Warns that Great Replacement Theory which Motivated Perpetrator Poses Grave Threat

BUFFALO, NEW YORK -- This Sunday marks the one year anniversary of the Buffalo mass shooting, in which a white supremacist murdered ten Black people in a Buffalo grocery store. 

In commemoration of one of the most horrific racist attacks in modern memory, Lindsay Schubiner, Director of Programs at Western States Center, issued the following statement: 

“One year ago, white supremacist violence stole the lives of 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. White supremacist ideology and white genocide conspiracy theories  like “great replacement” continue to motivate violence against communities of color. Sadly, just one week ago, a mass shooter motivated by the same white nationalist conspiracy theories murdered  eight people in Allen, Texas. 

“The Buffalo shooter - like the Allen shooter - was not commiting a random act of violence. He was motivated by the great replacement conspiracy theory, which falsely promotes the belief that a global force is working to undermine white political power and white existence. The rhetoric of great replacement theory is full of thinly-veiled references claiming Jewish people are the orchestrators of societal changes that Black people and other people of color benefit from. 

“American institutions and elected officials must acknowledge these conspiracy theories as the energizing principle behind white nationalism and violence as the primary white nationalist strategy to build political power. We cannot underestimate the extent to which this poses serious threats to communities historically targeted by anti-Black racism and antisemitism. 

“Our country, and our communities, must confront the hateful ideologies motivating this violence - and we must do so head on. That starts with holding accountable elected officials who continue to recklessly espouse the outlandish and  deeply dangerous great replacement conspiracy theory at hearings in Congress and on the campaign trail. Today we call for an end to antisemitic and racist rhetoric that undermines the safety of American communities .”