Trial of Buffalo supermarket shooting victims places blame on Facebook, Amazon and other tech giants

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tech and social media giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google bear responsibility for the radicalization of the Buffalo supermarket shooter, who was fueled by racist conspiracy theories encountered online, said the victim’s relatives in a complaint filed Wednesday.

“They were the conspirators, even if they don’t want to admit it,” civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said at a news conference announcing a 171-page lawsuit, which seeks unspecified financial damages as well. as changes in the way businesses operate.

The suit cites several online platforms, including Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Google, Discord and Amazon, which owns Twitch, the live-streaming platform the shooter used to stream last year’s shooting. The suit also names RMA Armament, the manufacturer of the shooter’s body armor, as well as firearms retailers who sold him weapons.

Ten Black people were killed and three others injured in May 2022 when Payton Gendron opened fire at the Tops Friendly Market, in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, which he had targeted after conducted online research. Gendron, who was 18 at the time, had driven 200 miles from his home in Conklin, New York.

He is serving a life sentence without parole after pleading guilty to crimes including hate-motivated murder and domestic terrorism.

The lawsuit says Gendron admits he became addicted to social media and was “unknowingly drawn into a psychological vortex by faulty social media applications and fed a constant stream of propaganda and racist and white supremacist lies.”

The mother of Zaire Goodman, who was shot in the neck and survived, described being “tagged” in a video that circulated widely online after Gendron livestreamed her rampage using a camera attached to the helmet he was wearing.

“No one should watch this,” said Goodman’s mother, Zeneta Everhart.

Twenty-two users watched the violence in real time on Gendron’s Twitch account, which was streamed simultaneously to his Discord account, according to the suit.

Just before the shooting, the shooter also made public 700 pages of an online diary detailing his plans, and linked to a Google document containing a self-described “manifesto” describing his racist motivations, according to the lawsuit.

In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Google-owned YouTube said the company had invested in technology and policies to identify and remove extremist content.

“We regularly work with law enforcement, other platforms and civil society to share intelligence and best practices,” José Castañeda said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.

Kimberly Salter, whose husband, Aaron Salter, was the store’s security guard, said at a news conference Wednesday, “These are human lives that were taken by a murderer.”

Aaron Salter, a retired police officer, was fatally shot after a bullet he fired struck Gendron but was deflected by a bulletproof vest, authorities said.

The body armor’s maker, RMA Armament, said the lawsuit came as a surprise and that its “products are intended for the protection of private citizens, law enforcement agencies and government partners.”

The other companies named in the complaint did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Buffalo attorney Terrence Connors, who represents the families with Crump, said the legal team thoroughly examined “the entire gun distribution chain, the manufacturers of body armor, the high-capacity magazines which are clearly illegal”, and no longer social media platforms.

“What we found was downright frightening,” he said.

The suit also names Gendron’s parents, Paul and Pamela Gendron, who the suit says armed their son despite warning signs that he was dangerous.

The Gendrons’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The complaint is similar to one filed in May by other victims of the shooting. Lawyers have said the lawsuits could be combined.

“A lot of people helped him load that gun,” Crump said. “And our goal is to ensure that everyone who loaded this gun is held accountable.”