On Saturday, 10 Black people were murdered in a grocery store by now-indicted Peter Gendron, who cited his shooting to the right-wing Great Replacement conspiracy theory.
In addition to the racist attack and a 180-page manifesto, Gendron went so far as to write the N-word on the barrel of his gun to ensure the public understood who he was targeting in this terrorist attack.
The massacre in Buffalo echoed similar sentiments to another white domestic terrorist who shot and killed 23 people and injured 23 more at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in 2019.
Racism, white fear, and desperation for political power are at the core of both shooters’ logical reasoning, according to authorities, and stem from the idea of the Great Replacement Theory.
A theory that welcoming immigration policies is part of a plot to undermine or “replace” the political power and culture of white people living in western countries, according to the National Immigration Forum report.
For context, the Great Replacement theory originated in 1973 by French authors who theorized over time that white Europeans “are being reverse colonized by Black and Brown immigrants who were flooding the Continent in what amounts to an extinction-level event.”
In addition to anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, anti-Latinx, and anti-immigration sentiments, according to reports, the theory also said that Jewish elites are responsible for the plot.
Despite denouncing the Buffalo and El Paso attacks, some of Texas’ top Republican officials have continually said Texas is under “invasion,” cited unfactual “illegal elections,” and used fearmongering language identical to the white supremacist shooter’s manifestos.
Two days after the Buffalo massacre, Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted: “Over 234,000 illegal immigrants flooded across the border last month. Joe Biden has failed to secure the border, and he is utterly defying his constitutional obligation [to] enforce the law. #BidenBorderCrisis.”
In September 2021, hundreds of Haitian migrants sought asylum at the Del Rio Border after Haitian President Jovenel Moise was murdered, and tragic earthquakes shook the island’s economic and geographic makeup. Their long journey to America was met with violence from Border Patrol Officers and, eventually, expulsion by the Biden Administration following the Center for Disease Control Title 42 policy.
In an interview with Fox News, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said Haitian migrants would be used as pawns in a Democratic plan to “take over this country.”
Patrick also added, “in 18 years, if every one of them has 2 to 3 children, millions of new voters … This is trying to take over our country without firing a shot.”
Again in a 2020 interview with Fox News Host and Great Replacement Theorists Tucker Carlson, Patrick said Texas was being “overrun” by an “invasion” and is bringing Third World diseases. And went so far as to say immigration makes America “dirtier and poorer.”
On Thursday, Congressman Troy Nehls tweeted “STOP THE INVASION” accompanied by a letter with 30 additional GOP leaders demanding President Biden “secure the Southern border.”
Policy-wise, on Wednesday, Rep. Chip Roy failed to vote in favor of legislation that would add domestic terrorism offices throughout the U.S. government.
“This is nothing more than empowering the federal government to police thought and speech in the United States of America, and we should oppose it roundly,” Roy said on the House Floor.
Kennedy is a recent graduate of the University of St.Thomas in Houston where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Celt Independent. Kennedy brings her experience of writing about social justice issues to the Texas Signal where she serves as our Political Reporter. She does everything from covering crime beats, Texas politics, and community activism. Kennedy is a passionate reporter, avid reader, coffee enthusiast, and loves to travel.
