‘Vile act of racist extremism’: UN chief condemns deadly shooting in Buffalo, NY
The United Nations’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement on Sunday condemned the racially motivated attack by a teenager in Buffalo, New York which left 10 people fatally shot, calling it a “vile act of racist extremism.”
A white teenager, Payton Gendron, killed 10 people at a New York grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood on Saturday, after apparently publicizing a racist manifesto on the internet, Reuters reported.
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“The Secretary-General was appalled by the killing of 10 people in a vile act of racist violent extremism in Buffalo, New York, on 14 May. He extends his deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and hopes justice will be served swiftly,” the UN chief’s deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement on his behalf.
“The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms racism in all its forms and discrimination based on race, religion, belief or national origin. We must all work together towards building more peaceful and inclusive societies,” the statement added.
Most of the victims were African American.
Eleven people struck by gunfire were Black and two were white, officials said. The racial breakdown of the dead was not made clear.
The gunman was arrested following a stand-off with the police and the incident marked the deadliest mass shooting in the US so far this year.
The incident follows other recent racist massacres, including the October 2018 attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania which killed 11 and wounded six, and the murder of nine African Americans in June 2015 at a church in South Carolina.
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