The families of victims killed in the Buffalo, New York, mass shooting in 2022 are suing Big Tech and firearm companies which they claim “helped” cause the shooter to get ahold of the gun.
The families filed the lawsuit in the state Supreme Court in Buffalo on Wednesday, naming Meta, Amazon, Instagram, Google and Reddit, as well as Vintage Firearms and the Endicott, New York, gun dealer where the gun had been purchased, according to ABC News. The parents of Payton Gendron, the 20-year-old shooter, are also plaintiffs in the case.
Gendron legally purchased the semi-automatic Bushmaster XM-15 from Endicott before the shooting, ABC News reported.
“Payton Gendron pulled the trigger, but he did so only after years of exposure to addictive social media platforms, which led to his radicalization and encouragement — via the Internet — to purchase weapons and body armor to commit this heinous attack,” the lawsuit alleges.
National civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the plaintiffs “helped him [Gendron] load that gun” at a Wednesday press conference.
“Even though Payton Gendron fired the weapon that killed all their loved ones, and critically injured others, there were many people who helped him load that gun,” Crump said. “It is our objective … to make sure that everybody who loaded that gun is held to account. They were the conspirators.”
Social media companies, weapon manufacturers, & gun retailers should have known the consequences of their products, yet they all looked the other way — letting the Buffalo mass shooting happen. EVERYONE who enabled the gunman needs to be held to account! https://t.co/S1mJuZoHnk
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 12, 2023
The shooting killed ten people and injured three others inside a supermarket in May 2022. Gendron wrote a 106-page manifesto where he wrote he became a “white supremacist” and “anti-Semite” after reading 4Chan and Reddit after the COVID-19 pandemic. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he pleaded guilty to fifteen state charges and not guilty to 26 federal charges. (RELATED: Courtroom Erupts In Chaos After Victim’s Family Member Lunges At Buffalo Mass Shooter)
During the sentencing hearing, Gendron apologized to the victims’ families and claimed the internet brainwashed him with racist propaganda, ABC News reported.
Google issued a statement saying YouTube has worked to remove “extremist content.”
“We have the deepest sympathies for the victims and families of the horrific attack at Tops grocery store in Buffalo last year,” the Google statement reads, according to ABC News. “Through the years, YouTube has invested in technology, teams, and policies to identify and remove extremist content. We regularly work with law enforcement, other platforms, and civil society to share intelligence and best practices.”
RMA Armament said they were “surprised” to be in the lawsuit because they only sell products intended for law-abiding citizens, the outlet reported.
“RMA Armament products are intended for the protection of law-abiding private citizens, police departments and government partners,” RMA’s President, Blake Waldrop, said in a statement to ABC News. “We are surprised to be named in this lawsuit and believe the claim lacks merit. We do understand this has been a difficult and painful year for the families and the Buffalo community.”