Netizens are calling out the West’s hypocrisy on terrorism after the gruesome act of a White supremacist, who live-streamed the killings of 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket was labelled as a simple ‘hate crime.’ This was in line with all previous terrorist acts committed by a White person.
The 18-year-old terrorist was later arrested. US federal agency FBI called the shooting as an act of ‘violent extremism’ and refused to term it a terrorist act since the perpetrator wasn’t a Muslim.
Stephen Belongia, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Buffalo office, told reporters, “We are investigating this incident as both a hate crime and a case of racially-motivated violent extremism.”
This did not go down with netizens, who reacted angrily at the sheer hypocrisy of the West on terrorism.
Charles Booker, who’s running for the American Senate, tweeted, “When we ignore hate, when we dismiss racism as if it doesn’t exist, it only grows. It is a disease unlike any other, and it has been the source of great pain and terror for far too long. This shooting in Buffalo is harrowing, but sadly, it is not new at all.”
When we ignore hate, when we dismiss racism as if it doesn’t exist, it only grows. It is a disease unlike any other, and it has been the source of great pain and terror for far too long. This shooting in Buffalo is harrowing, but sadly, it is not new at all.
— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) May 14, 2022
Journalist Rifat Jawaid wrote on Twitter, “So Buffalo shooter, who killed 10 people, is not declared a terrorist because he’s a White man. Incident is being investigated as hate crime. Hypocrisy of West knows no boundary.”
So Buffalo shooter, who killed 10 people, is not declared a terrorist because he’s a White man. Incident is being investigated as hate crime. Hypocrisy of West knows no boundary. pic.twitter.com/Tc1dT8gP6V
— Rifat Jawaid (@RifatJawaid) May 14, 2022
One Twitter user wrote, “White nationalists have launched terror attacks 9 of the last 12 years.
2022: Buffalo
21: Washington DC, Atlanta
19: El Paso
18: Orange Co, Pittsburgh
17: Charlottesville, NYC
15: Charleston
14: Overland Park
12: Tulsa, Oak Creek
11: Spokane
THIS is the greatest threat we face.”
Another Twitter user wrote, “Calling what happened in #Buffalo a “mass shooting” minimizes the true motivation behind this act of racial terror. This was not a random act perpetrated onto a random group. This was a hate crime motivated by anti-Blackness.”
Most of the Buffalo terror attack’s victims were Black. Buffalo has a predominantly Black population.
The White terrorist has since been charged in court with first-degree murder.