Tragedy struck New York on May 14 when an 18-year-old white male shoot dead at least 10 people in Buffalo, police said. The shooter, whose online username is believed to be “jimboboiii,” was taken into custody after live-streaming the entire incident on gaming platform Twitch, the company confirmed Saturday night. The gunman released a 180-page manifesto detailing his racist and anti-Semitic views, which he attributed in part to the controversial online forum 4chan. The document also mentions what appears to be a private Discord chat server, where he is said to have detailed his plans first.
The shooting happened at the Friendly Market on Jefferson Street, a busy suburban area in western New York state. According to the local store Buffalo News, a witness said the store was “full” and busy. Jimboboiii, who was identified by Buffalo police as Payton Gendron, ran to the supermarket and immediately shot four people in the parking lot, killing all but one. Gendron then entered the store, shooting several people, including a recently retired Buffalo police officer who was the store’s security guard.
According to Related pressGendron is from Conklin, a town about 200 miles southeast of Buffalo. Joseph Gramaglia, Buffalo City Police Commissioner Just Nominated, said in a press conference Gendron was armed in heavy armor. He has “tactical gear, a tactical helmet and a camera with which he is live streaming what he is doing”. While many were sharing Twitch accounts connected with the shooter’s known usernames, the Amazon-owned company terminated the Twitch channel known as “jimboboiii”.
Video of the incident has been pulled offline, although screenshots and short clips of the event are still floating around. And while Jimboboiii’s Twitch channel has been dropped, yes a YouTube channel can be connected to him has not been updated for at least three years. He also have a PC game Steam Account.
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The lengthy manifesto, which delves into the shooter’s supposed thoughts and goals, cites 4chan as the source of his radicalization, noting that “There, I know through infographics. believe, shitposts and memes that the White race is dying, that blacks are disproportionately killing whites, that the average black people take $700,000 from taxpayers over their lifetime. them, and that the Jews and the elite were behind it.” The manifesto also included not only step-by-step instructions for the mass shooting he intended to carry out, but also diagrams . Screenshots of Discord shared on social media, although not confirmed as legitimate, also purport to show someone with the same username diving into specifics of their behavior. planned action, clearly well before the shooting.
A Twitch spokesperson told Kotaku via email that they are saddened by the news and note that they have a strict “zero tolerance” policy towards violence.
“We are heartbroken to hear of the shooting that took place this afternoon in Buffalo, New York. Our hearts go out to the community affected by this tragedy,” a spokesperson said. “Twitch has a zero tolerance policy towards any form of violence and works quickly to respond to any incident. Users have been suspended indefinitely from our service and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring any accounts that replay this content.”
The shooter also mentioned 8chan as a location where he originally planned to post his plans, with a 4chan link allegedly pointing back to where OG 8chan’s post would appear. According to New York TimesDiscord says it is investigating Gendron’s alleged posts on a private server prior to the shooting and is cooperating with law enforcement officials.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families, and we will do everything we can to assist law enforcement in their investigation,” the company said.
In the past, Discord has been opened about extremism on the ground. In a transparency report reflecting only the second half of 2020 shared by the chat social network, Discord noted that it removed 1,500 private servers associated with “violent extremism,” at the time. , it claims is “an increase of 93% compared to the first half of the year.” Statistics like these, coupled with further research and media attention, have helped the narrative that groups like the far right on the platform have, like Wired once set it, “explode. ”
According to Discord, the apparent increase in numbers actually reflects proactive efforts on their part to deal with a larger problem on the internet; such as the 2020 report coinciding with the rise of QAnon. But back in 2017, NYT declare Discord is alt-right’s “favorite” chat appseems to be used at the time to help plan things like Unity on the right The rally was attended by white supremacists, among others.
Kotaku Have reached out to 4chan, 8chan, and Discord for comment.
Police have called the shooting a racially motivated hate crime, with CBS News reporter reported that the Buffalo branch of the FBI, the police department, and the United States Department of Justice are investigating such an incident. However, Payton Gendron, who has been charged with first-degree murder, has pleaded not guilty, according to The Independent.
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