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New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday pledged $10 million to establish new teams in every county and the Big Apple advised by the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to weeding out "white supremacist violent extremists" and other "domestic terrorists" active online in the wake of the Buffalo mass shooting in a historically Black neighborhood.
"As you heard and you know, one of the biggest threats we face as a state is something that is happening within our borders, domestic terrorism and specifically white supremacist extremism," Hochul said during the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Threat Assessment and Management Summit. "They choose violence as a response to some political grievance they have or some way they've been radicalized, but here's what we have to do. We have to say, ‘Not in New York, not in New York’ and when it starts here, we'll eradicate it."
The governor signed an executive order directing every county and New York City to perform a comprehensive review of current strategies, policies, procedures and practices and develop a plan to identify and confront threats of domestic terrorism, including racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.
The plan must include input from law enforcement, mental health professionals, school officials, and other key stakeholders in each jurisdiction and be submitted to the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services’ Office of Counterterrorism on or before Dec. 31.
The governor noted how the Anti-Defamation League recorded more than 600 extremist incidents in New York last year, more than a half being "organized dissemination of white supremacist information."
On May 14, 18-year-old accused gunman Payton Gendron allegedly took the nearly four-hour drive from his hometown of Conklin, N.Y., to Buffalo, N.Y., before entering the Tops Supermarket and unleashing a barrage of bullets, ultimately killing 10 people in the historically Black neighborhood, according to prosecutors.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signs executive order dedicated to combating domestic extremism breeding online. (NY Office of the Governor)
In announcing the executive order on Wednesday, Hochul placed blame on social media, as well as "reckless media personalities," for allegedly fueling racist conspiracy theories that Gendron allegedly discovered on internet messaging boards, inspiring the bloody carnage. She also seemingly blamed pandemic-era lockdowns for the radicalization of young people online.
"His stated goal was to execute Black New Yorkers," Hochul said. "And as a result, we mourn the loss of 10 individuals. But he was not born with this hate in his heart, this shooter. He absorbed these toxic ideals and racist philosophies because they're so easily accessible on social media platforms. And in some cases, the dark web and cable news networks, and they've been mainstreamed."
Community members pay respects at a "Memorial Garden" filled with flowers, photos and mementos outside the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue on July 14, 2022, in Buffalo, New York. (John Normile/Getty Images)
"These antisemitic and white supremacist ideas have been mainstreamed by a lot of reckless media personalities, unaccountable social media companies and the breeding ground for this hate is mostly online," she said. "And you think about the timing, this individual - 18 years old, the last two years, he was probably isolated in his home during the pandemic, not in school."
The executive order sets aside $10 million in grants for counties to form threat assessment management teams comprised of law enforcement, mental health professionals, school officials, and other key stakeholders tasked with identifying, assessing, and mitigating the threat of targeted violence.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul delivers virtual remarks at the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Threat Assessment and Management Summit. (NY Office of the Governor)
It also directs the New York State Police to establish a dedicated unit within the New York State Intelligence Center (NYSIC) to track domestic extremism and increase social media monitoring at the Intelligence Center.
The unit will be responsible for developing investigative leads based on social media analyses "focused on radical extremist activities motivated threats by identifying online locations and activities that facilitate radicalization and promote violent extremism," according to the executive order.
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Hochul’s directive notes that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security "assess that white supremacist violent extremists remain the most persistent threat for mass casualty attacks amongst domestic extremists."
The order also notes that DHS has determined "that the United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis-, dis-, and mal-information introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors."
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