> TONIGHT, HATE, EXTREMISM, AND GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA.

HOW A RACIST CONSPIRACY THEORY LED TO THE DEADLY MASSACRE IN BUFFALO, AND WHY IS HATE THRIVING ACROSS NEW YORK AND THE NATION?

AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO STOP IT?

A ‘METROFOCUS’ EXPLORING HATE SPECIAL REPORT STARTS RIGHT NOW.

♪♪

> THIS IS ‘METROFOCUS,’ WITH RAFAEL PI ROMAN, JACK FORD, AND JENNA FLANAGAN.

‘METROFOCUS’ IS MADE POSSIBLE BY — SUE AND EDGAR WACHENHEIM III, SYLVIA A. AND SIMON B. POYTA PROGRAMING ENDOWMENT TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM, THE PETER G. PETERSON AND JOAN GANZ COONEY FUND, BERNARD AND DENISE SCHWARTZ, BARBARA HOPE ZUCKERBERG, THE AMBROSE MONELL FOUNDATION.

AND BY —

> ANYONE ELSE WHO DARE BREAK THE SECURITY THAT EVERY CITIZEN IS ENTITLED TO, TO MAKE THEM FEEL VICTIMIZED, YOU’VE JUST PICKED A FIGHT WITH 20 MILLION NEW YORKERS, BECAUSE WE’LL CONTINUE TO STAND UP, BECAUSE AN ATTACK ON ONE IS AN ATTACK ON ALL, AND THIS WAS — NO OTHER WAY TO DESCRIBE IT THAN WHITE SUPREMACY TERRORISM.

IT’S RACISM, IT’S HATRED, AND IT STOPS RIGHT HERE IN BUFFALO.

THIS IS THE LAST STOP YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE, BECAUSE WE ARE COMING AFTER YOU.

THANK YOU.

♪♪

THAT’S GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL DENOUNCING THE MASS SHOOTING IN BUFFALO, THE NATION’S DEADLIEST SHOOTING THIS YEAR.

WELCOME TO ‘METROFOCUS,’ AND THIS EXPLORING HATE SPECIAL REPORT.

I’M JENNA FLANAGAN.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF SATURDAY’S SUPERMARKET MASSACRE, WHICH LEFT TEN PEOPLE DEAD AND THREE INJURE READY STILL REVERBERATING ACROSS NEW YORK STATE AND THE NATION.

AUTHORITIES SAY NEARLY ALL OF THE VICTIMS WERE BLACK, AND THE 18-YEAR-OLD GUNMAN WAS FUELED BY WHITE SUPREMACY WHEN HE STARTED SHOOTING IN A PREDOMINANTLY BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD, SOME 200 MILES AWAY FROM WHERE HE LIVED.

TONIGHT, AS THE BUFFALO COMMUNITY MOURNS THOSE LOST TO ANOTHER SENSELESS ACT OF VIOLENCE AND PRESIDENT BIDEN PREPARES TO VISIT THE CITY, WE’RE ONCE AGAIN CONFRONTED BY THE DANGER POSED BY WHITE SUPREMACY.

ACCORDING TO THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE, IN THE PAST DECADE, RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS ARE BEHIND THREE-QUARTER OF THE EXTREMIST ATTACKS IN THE U.S., KILLING OVER 300 PEOPLE.

TONIGHT WE’RE EXPLORING WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS HATE, FROM THE STALLED PUSH FOR GUN REFORM TO THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES AND THE SO-CALLED GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY, WHICH HAS BEEN SPREAD BY SOME ON THE RIGHT AND WAS REFERENCED BY THE BUFFALO SHOOTER IN HIS SUSPECTED MANIFESTO.

FOR MUCH MORE, LET’S INTRODUCE TONIGHT’S PANEL OF EXPERTS.

UP FIRST I’D LIKE TO WELCOME ZACK WILLIAMS.

THE NEW YORK POST ALBANY REPORTER WHO HAS BEEN REPORTING ON THIS STORY FROM THE SUSPECTED GUNMAN’S HOMETOWN.

ZACK, WELCOME TO ‘METROFOCUS.’

THANKS FOR HAVING ME.

WE ARE ALSO JOINED BY OREN SEGAL.

HE IS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE CENTER ON EXTREMISM AND HOST OF THE ‘EXTREMELY’ PODCAST ON UNDERSTANDING MODERN HATE.

WELCOME TO THE PROGRAM.

THANKS VERY MUCH.

WE ARE ALSO JOINED BY L. JOY WILLIAMS.

L JOY IS PRESIDENT OF THE BROOKLYN NAACP AND A LEADING POLITICAL STRATEGIST HERE IN NEW YORK.

SHE HOSTS THE SUNDAY CIVICS PODCAST.

L. JOY, IT’S GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON AGAIN.

THANKS FOR HAVING ME BACK.

AND JOINING US AGAIN IS JCPALANCO, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF ELECTIONS WHO TEACHES AT CUNYBCC.

ALWAYS A PLEASURE.

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

WITH ALL OF THOSE INTRODUCTIONS, ZACK, I’D LIKE TO START WITH YOU AND GET AN UPDATE ON WHAT WE KNOW OF THE STORY AS IT’S DEVELOPED FROM WHAT YOUR REPORTING HAS BEEN ABLE TO UNEARTH THUS FAR.

THANK YOU, JENNA.

LIKE YOU SAID IN MY INTRO, I SPENT A GOOD DAY IN CONKLIN, JUST OUTSIDE BINGHAMTON, WHERE THE SUSPECTED SHOOTER HAS HIS FAMILY HOME.

RIGHT NOW WE KNOW THAT CLEARLY THERE WAS A RACIST MOTIVATION TO THE SHOOTING.

THE SUSPECT IS IN CUSTODY, AND THE BIG QUESTION NOW IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT POSSIBLY COULD THE AUTHORITIES HAVE DONE TO PREVENT THE SHOOTING BEFOREHAND, AND WHAT CAN BE DONE NOW THE PREVENT FUTURE SHOOTINGS?

SOMETHING THAT STRUCK ME ABOUT CONKLIN IN MY TIME THERE WAS IT REALLY WAS THE ANYTOWN, USA, WE HEAR SO MUCH ABOUT.

MAYBE THAT’S THE PROBLEM.

IT’S AN OVERWHELMINGLY WHITE COMMUNITY, GUN CULTURE IS COMPLETELY NORMAL.

AT THE SAME TIME THERE SEEMED TO BE A TOLERANCE FOR SOME LEVEL OF PREJUDICE, YOU MIGHT SAY, THAT WAS OKAY WITH PEOPLE THERE.

MANY OF THEM HAD NEVER BEEN EXPOSED TO PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND ONE PERSON I INTERVIEWED, FOR INSTANCE, JUST MENTIONED HOW HIS OWN FATHER, A BIT ELDERLY, FROM A DIFFERENT GENERATION, WOULD USE RACIAL EPITHETS.

WHAT I HEARD THERE AT SOME LEVEL, WHATEVER THE INTENTION OF THE PEOPLE OF CONKLIN, IT SEEMED THERE WAS A BASE THERE THAT LED THE ACCUSED SUSPECT DOWN A VERY DEADLY PATH INDEED.

OREN, I WANT TO BRING YOU IN NOW AND ASK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THIS THEORY THAT WE’VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT, THE GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY.

NOT ONLY WHAT IS IT, BUT WHY IN A COMMUNITY THAT SEEMS TO STILL BE PREDOMINANTLY WHITE, WOULD THIS EVEN BE APPEALING?

THE GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY IS ONE THAT IS EMBRACED BOTH IN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE.

AS A CONCEPT, THAT BASICALLY SAYS WHITE EUROPEANS OR WHITE AMERICANS ARE GOING TO BE REPLACED BY IMMIGRANTS, PRIMARILY FROM AFRICA OR THE MIDDLE EAST OR MUSLIMS, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT BEGAN BY, YOU KNOW — IN FRANCE AND SLOWLY GOT CO-OPTED BY THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS IN THE UNITED STATES, BECAUSE IT MIRRORED THEIR CONCEPTS OF THE WHITE PEOPLE BEING POTENTIALLY EXTINCT BECAUSE OF THE CHANGES IN DEMOGRAPHICS AND OUR IMMIGRATION POLICIES.

IT HAS BEEN WEAPONIZED BY WHITE SUPREMACISTS.

WE HAVE SEEN ATTACK AFTER ATTACK, WHETHER IN PITTSBURGH OR PAWAY OR EL PASO, CHARLESTON, AND CHRIST CHURCH AND OVERSEAS.

IT IS SOMETHING THAT ANIMATES EXTREMISTS, BECAUSE THEY FEEL THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN PUSH BACK AGAINST THE RISING TIDE OF IMMIGRANTS AND THE BROWNING OF THEIR COUNTRIES.

BUT ONE OTHER IMPORTANT POINT ABOUT THE GREAT REPLACEMENT IS AS IT IS INCREASING ITS POPULARITY AMONGST EXTREMISTS AND ONLINE SPACES AND ANIMATING THIS VIOLENCE, IT IS ALSO BECOMING MORE POPULAR IN OUR MAINSTREAM DISCUSSION.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS, FROM OUR BROADCAST NEWS.

SO IT’S NOT AS EXPLICIT IN TERMS OF RACISM OR ANTI-SEMITISM YET UNDERSCORES THIS IDEA THAT SOMETHING IS BEING TAKEN AWAY FROM THE WHITE PEOPLE AND THE PERCEPTION THEY HAVE OF WHAT THEIR COUNTRIES ARE.

IT’S DEADLY.

JC, WE HAVE HAD SO MANY CONVERSATIONS NOT JUST ABOUT THE PROLIFERATION OF VIOLENCE OVERALL IN AMERICA AND IN ESPECIALLY NEW YORK, BUT ALSO THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE.

BUT IS THERE A POINT TO WHICH BALANCE AND FREE SPEECH BECOMES DANGEROUS?

BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN OTHER BROADCASTERS WHO HAVE — OR EVEN POLITICIANS WHO HAVE PRESENTED THIS AS AN ALTERNATIVE POINT OF VIEW.

IS THAT REALLY FAIR AT THIS POINT?

THERE’S A LOT OF THINGS THAT AREN’T FAIR.

MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS, MY ANGER GOES OUT TO THE FAMILIES WHO HAVE SUFFERED AT THE HAND OF THIS WHITE SUPREMACIST, DOMESTIC TERRORIST.

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT THIS IS AN IDEOLOGY THAT’S GOING TO BE VERY HARD TO EXTINGUISH.

WE HAVE TO CHANGE HEARTS AND MINDS.

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS WE HAVE TO, AS THE SOCIETY, SAY NO, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

WE CAN’T GIVE PEOPLE THAT SPEW THIS HATE THAT MR. SEGAL TALKS ABOUT, GIVE THEM A PLATFORM ON TV, WE CAN’T BUY ADS ON THEIR STATIONS, CAN’T CLICK LIKE ON THEIR TWEETS, CAN’T SHARE THEIR FACEBOOK STORIES.

WE HAVE TO SHUN THEM AND EXCOMMUNICATE THEM FROM SOCIETY.

WE’VE SEEN THIS KIND OF HATRED AND ANGER AND EXTREMISM AROUND THE WORLD.

WE RECENTLY HEARD ABOUT IN EUROPE.

WE MOST SEE IT IN PLACES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WHEN WE SEE VIOLENT EXTREMISTS THAT WE CALL TERRORISTS, WHEN THEY COME AND ATTACK US DURING 9/11 AND WHEN WE SEE THEM ATTACK THEIR OWN IN THE MIDDLE EAST CONSISTENTLY.

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, THAT ANGER WE SHARE WHEN WE SEE TERRORISM HAPPENING ABROAD, WE HAVE TO REALIZE IT’S HAPPENING HERE, HAPPENING IN OUR SUPERMARKETS AND CHURCHES, IN OUR STREETS.

IT’S HAPPENING HERE.

WE DON’T CLICK LIKE ON THEIR PLATFORMS.

WE DON’T GIVE OSAMA BIN LADEN ACT LITES ON TELEVISION AND BUY ADS ON THEIR STATIONS.

WE HAVE TO SHUN THEM COMPLETELY.

ANOTHER THING ABOUT THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA.

THEY HAVE TO STOP CALLING THIS INDIVIDUAL A GUNMAN, A YOUNG MAN, A SHOOTER.

THIS IS A DOMESTIC TERRORIST, WHITE SUPREMACIST EXTREME IT, NO GOOD THUG.

EVERY TIME I WATCH TELEVISION SOMEONE CONDONES THIS GUY’S BEHAVIOR BY DOING THE FOLLOWING — ALLEGED SUSPECT, ALLEGEDLY SHOT.

WE KNOW WHAT HE DID.

WE KNOW WHY HE DID IT.

IF HE LOOKED LIKE ME, HE’D BE A NO GOOD THUG SHOOTER.

THIS IS NOT A QUESTION OF — THIS IS EVIL, AND MR. SE GL IS CORRECT, IT HAS TO BE EXTINGUISHED BECAUSE IT’S SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE.

I WANT TO GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON NOT ONLY THIS THEORY, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT AT LEAST I FIND SO CONFUSING OR PERHAPS FASCINATING IS WHY IN PREDOMINANTLY SPACES THAT ARE SEEMLY PREDOMINANTLY WHITE WOULD THE GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY BE APPEALING?

AS WE HEARD AT THE BEGINNING, PEOPLE IN THIS COMMUNITY HAD VERY LITTLE IF ANY INTERACTION WITH COLOR?

YEAH.

YOU KNOW, I CAN’T PUT MYSELF IN THE MIND SET OF A TERRORIST OR A RACIST TO UNDERSTAND WHY SOMETHING — WHY THESE PARTICULAR THOUGHT PROCESSES SORT OF CATCH ON WITH PEOPLE.

BUT WHAT I WILL SAY, I DID FIND IT INTERESTING FROM ZACK’S REPORTING, TALKING ABOUT HOW THERE IS AT LEAST SOME — IT’S ACCEPTABLE, LIKE PRESUMABLY IN THIS ALL-AMERICAN TOWN — IN THE AIR QUOTES — WHERE GUN CULTURE IS PART OF CULTURE, FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES.

SOUTHERN, MIDWEST, AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.

BUT THAT THE PREJUDICE, THE HATE, THE BIGOTRY IS LIKE, OH, YEAH, IT’S ACCEPTABLE.

RIGHT?

LIKE EVEN IN A PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE VERY FEW PEOPLE OF COLOR.

TO JC’S POINT, IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO COUNTERACT THIS, THERE WILL BE A LONG INVESTIGATION, BEING ABLE TO POINT OUT SPECIFIC MOMENTS AND ISSUES WHERE WE CAN POINT TO WHERE SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE INTERVENED, SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING.

SO FAR WHAT WE KNOW IS LAW ENFORCEMENT HAD BEEN CALLED AND INTERVENED IN A PREVIOUS YEAR FOR THIS PARTICULAR TERRORIST.

BUT IT’S ALMOST COMMON PLACE, AND WE HAVE TO GET TO THE POINT TO DISRUPT THAT COMMON PLACE OF HATE.

IT’S GOING TO CONTINUE TO HAVE DIFFERENT PHRASES AND WORDS UNTIL WE ACTIVELY DISRUPT IT.

BECAUSE WHITE REPLACEMENT THEORY IS A NEW TERMINOLOGY, BUT I REMEMBER IN HIGH SCHOOL IN A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE HIGH SCHOOL, CLASSMATES IN A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE HIGH SCHOOL TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE AND WHITE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE ERASED.

AND IT WASN’T CALLED REPLACEMENT THEORY THEN FROM NEO-NAZIS AND SKINHEADS, BUT IT WAS STILL A CONVERSATION.

SO IT CONTINUES TO ADVANCE, CONTINUES TO EVOLVE.

IT SEEPS INTO THE MAINSTREAM WHEN WE DON’T CONFRONT IT HEAD ON.

IN A PRESUMABLY ALL AMERICAN WHITE TOWN, YOU DON’T NEED DIVERSITY FOR YOU TO BE ABLE TO CONFRONT HATE, BIGOTRY, AND PREJUDICE.

RIGHT?

YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THAT SPACE.

AND UNTIL WE GET TO A SPACE THAT WE CAN DO THAT, WHERE WHITE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THOSE PREDOMINANTLY WHITE TOWNS OR AREAS CAN DISRUPT IT WITHOUT THE PRESENCE AND EYES OF COLOR, UNTIL THEY ARE ABLE TO DISRUPT THAT ITSELF, IT WILL CONTINUE TO SEEP INTO OUR CULTURE, BUT THAT’S THE TYPE OF CULTURE AMERICA HAS ALLOWED TO OCCUR, AND UNTIL WE DETERMINE THAT IS NOT JUST BLACK AND LATINO PEOPLE’S PROBLEM TO — AND JEWISH PEOPLE TO INTERRUPT THAT, THAT WHITE PEOPLE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY IN DISRUPTING THAT AS WELL.

ZACK, I ALSO WANT TO GO BACK TO YOU, BECAUSE J. JOY DID BRING UP THE IMPORTANT POINT THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL — AT LEAST AS A JOURNALIST THAT’S WHAT I’LL SAY FOR RIGHT NOW — WAS ON POLICE’S RADAR PRIOR TO THIS ACCIDENT, AND I’M WONDERING IF YOU COULD EXPLAIN WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR.

SO, RIGHT NOW THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS THAT THIS ALLEGED WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORIST, YOU KNOW, HAD ACTUALLY BEEN FLAGGED AS THREATENING HIS OWN SCHOOL WHILE HE WAS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL.

NOW, HE APPARENTLY WAS GIVEN A PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINATION AND FOUND TO BE FIT, AND NOTHING FURTHER WAS REALLY DONE.

NOW, THIS COULD BE WHY HE WAS NOT ON THE RADAR OF FEDERAL OR STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT BEFORE THE INCIDENT, BUT I THINK THERE IS A LOT OF OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS.

YOU KNOW, WHAT DID THE PRINCIPAL SAY?

WHAT DID LOCAL PROSECUTORS OR LAW ENFORCEMENT SAY?

WAS HE GIVEN A GOOD PASS BECAUSE HE’S FROM A GOOD, ALL-AMERICAN FAMILY?

YOU KNOW, HIS FAMILY LIVED IN A VERY NICE NEIGHBORHOOD OUTSIDE OF BING HAMTON, AND YOU COULD REALLY SEE AND DON’T KNOW THE FACTS FOR SURE, BUT IT KIND OF SEEMS THAT HE MADE A VERY OBVIOUS THREAT TO HIMSELF AND TO CLASSMATES.

HE HAD ACTUALLY EVEN TOLD A TEACHER HE WAS INTEREST IN THE MURDER AND SUICIDE, AND THEN EVERYTHING WAS JUST KIND OF DROPPED.

YES, YOUNG PEOPLE MAYBE NEED SOME LEEWAY, BUT WE SEE THE RESULTS WHEN PEOPLE DON’T TAKE WARNING SIGN AS SERIOUSLY AS THEY SHOULD.

AND ONE LAST THING I JUST WANTED TO ADD, YOU KNOW, AFTER L. JOY’S COMMENT THERE IS, IT’S SOMETHING I ASKED QUITE A FEW PEOPLE, MAYBE HALF A DOZEN PEOPLE, IN CONKLIN, WAS WHETHER THEY AGREE WITH THE IDEA, WHAT DO WHITE PEOPLE HATE MORE THAN RACISM?

BEING CALLED A RACIST.

I THOUGHT THAT WAS A TELLING WAY FOR THEM TO — A TELLING SIGN THAT AT LEAST AT SOME LEVEL, INTENTIONALLY OR NOT, THIS WAS A COMMUNITY WHERE AN 18-YEAR-OLD COULD BUY A GUN AFTER THREATENING — BEFORE OR AFTER THREATENING HIS SCHOOLMATES, SHOW UP AFTER THE PANDEMIC IN FULL BIOHAZARD GEAR, ODD STUFF THAT WOULD USUALLY RAISE HUGE RED FLAGS.

I CAN’T IMAGINE THAT IF A BLACK STUDENT IN A DIFFERENT COMMUNITY DID ANY OF THESE THINGS, LET ALONE THREATEN MURDER AND SUICIDE, THEY WOULD GIVE HIM A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION AND SEND HIM BACK HOME WITH FEW, IF ANY CONSEQUENCES.

JENNA, IF I MAY, RACISM IS NOT A MENTAL ILLNESS.

SO THIS HATE, THIS BIGOTRY THAT EXISTS, RIGHT, TO BELIEVE THAT WE OUGHT TO RESPOND BY, YOU KNOW, IS THERE A MENTAL HEALTH ANGLE, A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE, WHICH ALWAYS COMES UP IN THESE PARTICULAR INSTANCES, RATHER, WE NEED CHECK TO SEE, ARE THERE DIFFERENT PROTOCOLS WE NEED IN PLACE?

THIS PERSON ISN’T MENTALLY ILL, IN FACT, HE HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO AND IS DOUBLING DOWN IN WHITE SUPREMACY, HATE, AND BIGOTRY.

WHAT IS NOW THE PROTOCOL FOR ADDRESSING THAT FROM A LAW ENFORCEMENT STANDPOINT TO PREVENT THIS TRAGEDY?

BECAUSE, OKAY, HE PASSED THE PSYCH EVAL.

FAMILY OR WHATEVER IS SAYING.

THAT WHAT IS THE FURTHER INVESTIGATION?

ASKING FAMILY, LIKE, WHAT IS HE EXPOSED TO?

IF HE’S ESPOUSING THESE PARTICULAR BELIEFS, YOU KNOW, THERE’S SOME INTERVENTION THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN HERE BECAUSE WE HAVE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE KNOWING THAT IF LEFT UNCHECKED, IT CAN RESULT INTO VIOLENCE.

RIGHT?

THERE’S A PROTOCOL THAT NEEDS TO BE IN POLICE.

I WANT TO BRING IN JC ON THIS TO GET FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT, BECAUSE IN ADDITION TO THE MANIFESTO OR WRITINGS THIS PERSON LEFT, THERE’S ALSO A DIGITAL PAPER TRAIL.

NOT ONLY DID HE LIVE STREAM THIS ON A SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM, BUT WAS ALSO VERY ACTIVE ON SOME OF THE CHAT ROOM PLATFORMS.

SO I’M WONDERING, DOES THERE NEED TO BE ANY SORT OF RESPONSIBILITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA WHEN THIS KIND OF DANGEROUS RHETORIC APPEARS ON THEIR PLATFORM AND HOW THEY HANDLE IT AND IF THEY REPORT IT TO ANYONE?

I THINK THERE’S A CONSENSUS AMONG THE COUNTRY THAT THERE HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF REPERCUSSION FOR SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES THAT ALLOW FOR THESE THINGS TO HAPPEN.

WE DON’T ALLOW IT FOR CHILD PORN, WE SHOULD NOT ALLOW IT FOR THIS AS WELL.

WE HAVE TO REMEMBER ONE THING — THE CONSTITUTION OF OURS IS SOMETHING ELSE, ISN’T IT?

IT’S A WONDERFUL DOCUMENT.

I BELIEVE IT’S A LIVING, BREATHING DOCUMENT.

BUT IT PROVIDES PROTECTIONS, AND SOME OF THOSE PROTECTIONS, WE SAW THE DANGER OF SOME OF THOSE PROTECTIONS WHEN THIS MAN IS LEFT UNCHECKED.

WE SEE IT EVERY DAY IN OUR STREETS WHEN WE’RE BALANCING THE REALITIES OF KNOWING THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT UNLIKE THIS GUY ARE SEVERELY MENTALLY ILL, WITHOUT THEIR MEDICATION, WITHOUT MONITORING, SHOVING PEOPLE INTO TRAINS.

THE CONSTITUTION PROTECTS THAT INDIVIDUAL FROM GETTING MONITORED 24/7.

WE MAY HAVE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW WE BALANCE THE CONSTITUTION AND REALITY.

BUT THIS IS AN EXAMPLE.

I AGREE WITH L. JOY, THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHECKS.

AND SIMPLY ALLOWING THIS GUY TO ROAM THE STREETS AFTER MAKING THOSE THREATS IS OBSCENE.

WE SEE THE RESULTS EACH AND EVERY TIME.

OREN, I WANT TO CIRCLE BACK TO YOU AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE IDEA OF, PERHAPS EDUCATING PEOPLE.

THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN ARGUING, DEBATING, GRAPPLING WITH HOW WE TEACH OUR OWN HISTORY, SO HOW DO YOU BRING IN I GUESS ANY KIND OF EDUCATION AT AN EARLIER AGE TO YOUNGER CHILDREN TO TEACH THEM THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF EXTREMISM?

WHY IT’S SO DANGEROUS AND DEADLY TO THE SOCIETY AS A WHOLE.

YEAH, AND I WANT TO ACTUALLY START BY FOLLOWING UP ON ANOTHER COMMENT YOU HAD.

WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT HOW THIS WAS A PERSON IN A PARTICULARLY — A COMMUNITY MOSTLY OF WHITE PEOPLE, ET CETERA, BUT EVERY COMMUNITY IN THIS COUNTRY, NO MATTER THE MAKEUP, RELIGIOUS OR RACIAL, EVERYBODY HAS AN INTERNET CONNECTION, AND WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND PEOPLE SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHERE THEY LIVE.

IN FACT, THE MANIFESTO THIS PERSON PUT OUT BEFORE THEY ENGAGED IN THIS TRAGIC ATTACK, SPEAKS TO THE ABILITY FOR PEOPLE TO BORROW INFORMATION FROM OTHER IDEOLOGIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

HE LITERALLY USED 63% OF THE CHRIST CHURCH SHOOTER’S ATTACK, COPY AND PASTED INTO HIS OWN MANIFESTO.

HE ADDED SOME, PASTED HIS OWN CONTENT.

SHOWS YOU, PEOPLE FEEL MUCH MORE INCLINED TO COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THEIR COMMUNITY THAN NECESSARILY THOSE WITHIN.

WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US?

I’MER SICK AND TIRED OF READING 180-PAGE MANIFESTOS AFTER A COMMUNITY IS TARGETED.

THE QUESTION YOU’RE ASKING IS FUNDAMENTALLY, HOW DO WE GET TO THE POINT WHERE NOBODY IS WRITING THE MANIFESTOS, WHERE THE ATTACKS ARE NOT HAPPENING, AND I THINK PART OF THAT IS, TO YOUR POINT, EDUCATION.

WE HAVE A WEBSITE THAT ENABLES PEOPLE TO IDENTIFY COMMONLY USED SYMBOLS AND TATTOOS AND CODE WORDS THAT EXTREMISTS COMMONLY USE.

THAT’S ONE INDICATOR.

WE ARE TRAINING ‘A,’ HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY HATE, AND ‘B,’ HOW DO YOU NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE A BYSTANDER?

THESE ARE LESSONS FROM THE HOLOCAUST THAT WE ALL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN TERMS OF ALLEYSHIP.

STARTS WITH BULLYING.

MAYBE IT’S NOT AS EXTREME HATE AS HE MIGHT SEE PLAY OUT ON OUR STREET, BUT FUNDAMENTALLY WE NEED PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO BE CRITICAL THINKERS WHO UNDERSTAND THE TYPE OF CONTENT THEY’RE GOING TO BE ENGAGING IN, WHETHER THE PARENTS LIKE IT OR NOT, AND THEN BE ABLE TO MAKE SMARTER DECISIONS.

I THINK THAT’S ONE WAY TO MITIGATE THESE THREATS IS ACTUALLY PROVIDE YOUNG PEOPLE THE TOOLS THAT THEY NEED TO KNOW WHEN PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO PRAY UPON THEM ONLINE.

THAT’S ONE THING WE OUGHT TO START DOING BETTER, BUT IT’S NOT GOING TO SOLVE THE ISSUE ON ITS OWN.

OF COURSE, OF COURSE.

ZACK, GOING BACK TO YOU, WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT WHERE THE INVESTIGATION STANDS?

THERE ARE SEVERAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THIS POINT.

FEDERAL PROSECUTORS SEEM TO BE TAKING THE LEAD, HAVING INDICTED THE SUSPECT OVER THE WEEKEND.

THE STATE HATE CRIMES TASK FORCE IS ALSO INVESTIGATING, STATE TROOPERS.

I THINK RIGHT NOW THEY’VE GOT A VERY QUICK FIRST-DEGREE MURDER CHARGE, IF I’M NOT MISTAKEN, ON THE SHOOTER, THE SUSPECT, THE WHITE SUPREMACIST, AND YOU KNOW, IT JUST KIND OF SEEMS DOTTING ‘I’s AND CROSSING ‘T’s FOR MANY CHARGES TO COME.

JC IT’S NOT LOST ON ME THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ELECTION CYCLE, AND WE KNOW THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN IS GOING TO BE VISITING.

WHAT IS IT THAT THAT YOU THINK IS THE MOST CRITICAL THING THAT NEEDS TO BE HEARD NATIONWIDE?

I THINK BOTH SIDES — I HAVE BEEN MONITORING THE MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA AS WELL TO SEE WHAT SOME FOLKS ARE SAYING.

BOTH SIDES RECOGNIZE THIS HAS BEEN EVIL, RECOGNIZE THAT HAS BEEN HATE, AND NOW IT’S IMPORTANT THEY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

UNFORTUNATELY, EVERYTHING BECOMES POLITICAL AT THE END OF THE DAY.

I HATE TO SEE POLITICIANS USE THIS FOR FUNDRAISINGER FOR PURPOSES OF GETTING VOTES I DO WANT THEM TO COME OUT AGAINST HATE HARD, AND I THINK WE’RE SEEING THAT RIGHT NOW.

AND I THINK YOU’RE GOING TO SEE THAT FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE.

OKAY.

AND L. JOY, SAME THOUGHT TO YOU.

I MEAN, IS THERE ANYTHING, REALLY, THAT THE PRESIDENT CAN SAY AFTER, YOU KNOW, AN EXHAUSTED NATION HAS HAD — THIS WASN’T THE ONLY SHOOTING, BY THE WAY, THAT HAPPENED OVER THIS PAST WEEKEND.

YEAH, I WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO BRING THAT UP.

I BELIEVE THERE WERE FIVE OVER THE WEEKEND.

AND YOU KNOW, FOR A NUMBER OF — THERE ARE SHOOTINGS THAT HAPPEN.

THERE ARE VIOLENT ATTACKS THAT HAPPEN ON A REGULAR BASIS THAT DO NOT RISE TO THE LEVEL OF NATIONAL NEWS.

WE’VE BECOME — IT’S SENSATIONALISM IN TERMS OF BRINGING UP WHICH ONE BECOMES THE ONE THAT GRIPS THE NATIONAL ATTENTION BUCK THESE KINDS OF VIOLENT ATTACKS IN DIFFERENT WAYS HAPPEN ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ISSUES, AND TO JC’S POINT, EVEN THE CLIENTS THAT I REPRESENT I WAS LIKE, ABSOLUTELY NO FUNDRAISING.

OR INFORMATION OFF THIS, RIGHT?

BUT THERE’S THE ISSUE OF DEALING WITH VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES OVERALL, DEALING WITH ACCESS TO GUNS WHEN WE DO HAVE IN OUR CONSTITUTION, AS JC MENTIONED, A BASIS FOR GUN POSSESSION THAT PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE.

BUT THERE IS SOME FEDERAL LEGISLATION AND ALSO STATE LEGISLATION THAT CAN HAPPEN ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

HERE IN NEW YORK, RIGHT, WE HAD A BACKGROUND SEARCH WHERE HE BOUGHT THE GUN.

A BACKGROUND SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED BUT WAS NOT ABLE TO SHOW THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THAT STANDPOINT.

WE’RE TRYING TO ADDRESS THAT WITH GHOST GUNS.

APPARENTLY, ALLEGEDLY HOW HE ALTERED TO GUN FROM THAT STANDPOINT AND TO BE ABLE TO FLAG INSTANCES TO BE ABLE TO TAKE WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION FROM PEOPLE WHEN THEY DISPLAY THESE TYPES OF BEHAVIORS.

SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE THINGS IN PLACE AND YOU’RE STILL — AND THESE INCIDENTS ARE STILL ABLE TO HAPPEN?

THAT’S WHEN WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THE HOLES, RIGHT, OF BEING ABLE TO SAY, WHITE SUPREMACY IS ONE OF THOSE HOLES THAT WE HAVE TO ADDRESS.

OKAY, L. JOY, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE.

BUT I WANT THE THANK YOU AND THE REST OF MY GUESTS.

JC POLANCO, OREN SEGAL, ZACK WILLIAMS.

THESE ARE DEEP AND COMPLEX ISSUES AND WE AT PBS AND THE WNET GROUP ARE COMMITTED TO REPORTING ON THE RESURGENCE OF HATRED ACROSS AMERICA AND THE GLOBE.

FOR MORE, VISIT PBS’ WEBSITE WHERE YOU CAN WATCH ‘EXTREMISM IN AMERICA’, WHICH OFFERS A CLOSS LOOK AT THE ROOTS OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM IN THIS COUNTRY AND WHY THE THREAT OF MORE INCIDENTS LIKE BUFFALO IS GROWING.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US, AND GOOD NIGHT.

♪♪

> ‘METROFOCUS’ IS MADE POSSIBLE BY — SUE AND EDGAR WACHENHEIM III, SYLVIA A. AND SIMON B. POYTA PROGRAMING ENDOWMENT TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM, THE PETER G. PETERSON AND JOAN GANZ COONEY FUND, BERNARD AND DENISE SCHWARTZ, BARBARA HOPE ZUCKERBERG, THE AMBROSE MONELL FOUNDATION.