Gov. Hochul proposes measures to combat extremist acts of violence

Following the Buffalo mass shooting, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a series of actions and proposals to combat extremist acts of violence, including investigating certain online sites and strengthening a law meant to keep guns away from people who pose a threat to themselves or others.

Hochul, a Democrat, announced the initiatives just days after an alleged 18-year-old white Broome County man killed 10 Black people in a racist shooting spree at a Buffalo grocery store. She said the shooter was radicalized by “white nationalism” and drove to Buffalo with the sole intention of “executing Black New Yorkers.”

“This is white supremacy in this nation at its worst,” the governor said. “It’s infecting our society. It’s infecting our nation and now it’s taken members of our family away.”

She later added: “How many more lives need to needlessly be taken from us before we face the truth?” A day earlier, President Joe Biden spoke in Buffalo, calling for an end of the “poison” of “white supremacy.”

The state immediately announced an investigation of online sites that promote white supremacy, hosted the shooter’s online writings and that streamed the Buffalo shooting. The governor also said a new homeland security unit will track extremism online.

Another of Hochul’s proposals centered on the apparent weakness in New York’s “Red Flag” law, which permits law enforcement to petition a court to take away someone’s guns if they are potentially dangerous because of a mental health problem.

State Police had questioned and evaluated Payton Gendron, the Buffalo shooter, in spring 2021 about comments he had made about wanting to commit a murder/suicide. But he was eventually released, and troopers didn’t exercise the option to initiate a court order that could have taken away his firearms.

Hochul announced a new executive order that would require troopers to seek an extreme risk protection order when they have probable cause to believe someone could be a threat to themselves or others.

The initiatives come not only after the mass shooting, but also amid an election year where her Democratic and Republican opponents have harshly criticized Hochul on crime.

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), who is one of three vying in a Democratic primary on June 28, said Hochul failed to properly implement the Red Flag law and hasn’t made crime a priority.

“The Red Flag law hasn’t crossed her lips since she’s been governor until today,” Suozzi said, calling it a failure of leadership. “We don’t need more speeches. We don’t need more blather. We need her to run the state.”

He also highlighted Hochul’s high rating from the NRA during her one term as a moderate congresswoman, though Hochul steadily has adopted more liberal positions, especially on guns, since becoming lieutenant governor in 2015 and governor last year.

Among Republicans, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay noted that a state Domestic Terrorism Task Force was created in 2020 yet has never held a single meeting nor issued any quarterly reports as mandated.

“The intent of this task force was to specifically address the violent acts we’re seeing play out in front of us,” Barclay (R-Pulaski) said. “It’s a disservice and disappointing that it can’t find the time to convene.”

As part of the plan, Hochul also called for the State Legislature to pass laws to microstamp gun cartridges to allow tracking — a proposal that has stalled more than once in Albany over the last 13 years. But time is short: The legislative session is slated to adjourn this year on June 2.

She also wants to close loopholes that permit assemble-at-home guns to evade the state’s ban on assault weapons.

To illustrate this at the news conference, Hochul pointed to what looked like a fully assembled weapon held by State Police Superintendent Kevin Bruen and said: “Does anybody think this is NOT a gun? Our laws don’t.”

Investigators said Gendron legally purchased an AR-15 in New York but then modified it to carry more rounds.

The governor said the shooting “showed that we as a country are facing an intersection of two crises: the mainstreaming of hate speech — including white nationalism, racism and white supremacy — and the easy access to military-style weapons and magazines.”

State Attorney General Letitia James said she’d immediately launch an investigation into online sites where the shooter allegedly wrote a 180-page missive about conspiracy theories and his massacre plans. James also will look at sites that webcast the shootings — Gendron wore a body camera during the attack.

Said James: “The investigations will look into the social media companies and other online resources that the shooter used to discuss and amplify his intentions and acts to carry out this attack. Specifically, the investigations will focus on those ​platforms that may have been used to stream, promote, or plan the event, including but not limited to Twitch (owned by Amazon), 4chan, 8chan, and Discord.”

Authorities have said Gendron specifically targeted Black people for murder and traveled several times from his home in Conklin — 200 miles away from Buffalo — to scout and then carry out his plans.

With Michael Gormley

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy