US President Joe Biden will travel to Buffalo on Tuesday after a racist massacre that left ten people dead in a supermarket in this city in New York State, the White House announced on Sunday.
The head of state will go there "to share the pain of a community that lost ten of its own in a horrific and senseless mass killing", announced the White House.
A large crowd gathered at the scene of the tragedy on Sunday, praying, laying wreaths and chanting the word "unity" while another vigil was held at a church where Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said he was "Devastated" by this "racist and violent attack".
Read alsoMass killing in Buffalo: Payton Gendron, 18, racist, anti-Semitic and mass murderer
The shooter identified as Payton Gendron, 18, drove more than 300 km from his residence in Conklin in the south of the state to carry out the massacre, even carrying out "a reconnaissance operation" the day before the incident, according to the authorities.
“This individual came with the objective of killing as many black people as possible,” summarized Byron Brown during a press conference.
“The evidence we have gathered so far leaves no doubt that this is a racially motivated hate crime and will be prosecuted as such,” said Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia.
A “hate crime”
“Hate crime” in the United States refers to an act directed against a targeted person because of elements of their identity such as race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or disability.
Considered an aggravated federal offence, it carries harsher sentences.
Payton Gendron threatened to kill himself before surrendering to law enforcement.
Prosecuted for "premeditated murder", he pleaded not guilty during a first appearance before a judge.
The young man carried a camera and broadcast his crime live on Twitch even though the platform claimed to have deleted the content “two minutes” after the start of its broadcast.
A 180-page “manifesto”
He also published a 180-page racist "manifesto" before the facts, according to American media.
The Buffalo News newspaper also revealed that an offensive, racist and taboo word in the United States to designate black people had been painted in white on the barrel of the weapon.
This racist killing is reminiscent of two others: that of El Paso in Texas in 2019 where 23 people were killed by a far-right activist, including eight Mexicans and "Hispanic" people, and that of Charleston in South Carolina where a white supremacist had killed nine African-American worshipers in a church in 2015. In both cases, hateful manifestos had been posted online before the attacks.
