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Authorities investigating if retired federal agent knew of Buffalo mass shooting plans in advance
Buffalo News ^

Posted on 05/27/2022 5:29:33 AM PDT by TigerClaws

Law enforcement officers are investigating whether a retired federal agent had about 30 minutes advance notice of a white supremacist's plans to murder Black people at a Buffalo supermarket, two law enforcement officials told The Buffalo News.

Authorities believe the former agent – believed to be from Texas – was one of at least six individuals who regularly communicated with accused gunman Payton Gendron in an online chat room where racist hatred was discussed, the two officials said.

The two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation stated these individuals were invited by Gendron to read about his mass shooting plans and the target location about 30 minutes before Gendron killed 10 people at Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue on Ma

The News could not determine if the retired agent accepted the invitation.

These were like-minded people who used this chat group to talk about their shared interests in racial hatred, replacement theory and hatred of anyone who is Jewish, a person of color or not of European ancestry,” said one of the two law enforcement officials with close knowledge of the investigation. “What is especially upsetting is that these six people received advanced notice of the Buffalo shooting, about 30 minutes before it happened.

“The FBI has verified that none of these people called law enforcement to warn them about the shooting. The FBI database shows no advance tips from anyone that this shooting was about to happen.”

Agents from the FBI are in the process of tracking down and interviewing the six people, including the retired agent, and attempting to determine if any of them should be charged as accomplices, the two sources with close knowledge of the probe told The Buffalo News.

The two sources did not identify the agent by name and could not confirm what federal agency he worked for.

The Buffalo FBI Office declined to comment on the investigation. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo declined through a spokeswoman to comment.

Buffalo civil rights attorney John V. Elmore said it will be outrageous if it turns out that a former law enforcement officer had advance notice of the shooting and did nothing to prevent it.

If he had advance notice, he had a moral obligation to get on the phone and try to notify someone about it,” said Elmore, who represents the family of Andre Mackniel, who was shot dead when he went to Tops to buy a birthday cake for his 3-year-old son.

Attorney Terrence M. Connors, who is representing several families who lost loved ones in the shooting, said: “As outrageous as this may sound, based upon what we are finding in our investigation, it is not surprising.” He declined to reveal the evidence his law firm has collected.

The New York Times reported May 17 that Gendron invited a small group of people into a private chat room on the messaging platform Discord to review his plan about 30 minutes before the massacre at Tops. The Washington Post reported two days later that 15 people accepted Gendron's invitation into the Discord chat room and were able to review his plan and watch his live stream video as he committed the killings.

Federal authorities are investigating if the retired agent provided information to Gendron before he went on his shooting spree, the two law enforcement officials told The News.

In addition to law enforcement sources, two other individuals with knowledge of the mass shooting investigation have also confirmed that federal authorities are looking into the former agent’s relationship to the shooter.

The Sandman

FBI agents are also trying to determine the identity of an individual Gendron calls “Sandman,” and “Saint Sandman” in his lengthy social media diary that appeared on Discord 30 minutes before the attack, the sources said.

In the diary, Gendron indicates Sandman counseled him on manufacturers of AR-15 semi-automatic rifles and their quality. The shooter purchased and allegedly used that type of assault rifle in the rampage, which local authorities have said was fueled by his racial hatred.

In the document Gendron posted on Discord just prior to the shooting, he references Sandman three times.

In a passage dated May 2, he quoted Saint Sandman as saying: "When the time finally comes to deal decisively with a whole host of society's problems, and not go to prison for it, you'll know. Just be ready. You have spent your entire life, from the day you were born, right up to this very moment, reading this sentence, coming to where you are right now. Look around you. Are you content with where you are right now? Are you where you want to be? If so, continue to march. If not, what are you going to do? What's your plan? Get and keep your mind, body, and spirit right. Pray. Lift. Run. Read. Shoot. And teach your kids to do those things.”

A third law enforcement source told The News they are aware of Gendron’s writings involving the quality of different rifles. The shooter ended up using a Bushmaster X-15, a version of the AR-15 rifle, police have reported.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: didyousearch
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There are claims online that the Texas shooter was also in the group on Discord.
1 posted on 05/27/2022 5:29:33 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

Claim is were on a Discord server. And the Uvalde shooter was on the server as well. The handler went by the name “Armand.”

Fox News related story.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/buffalo-shooting-federal-agent-knew-shooters-plans-investigation

How is it a “political win” for Democrats to have two mass shootings and one of them in Texas a few days before Trump is to speak at a NRA convention there?

Reminds me of the “draw Mohamed” shooting where FBI agents basically escorted the attempted mass shooter to the front door of the event location.


2 posted on 05/27/2022 5:32:54 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

People here poo poo 4chan

I knew about this rumour yesterday midday

A lot I hear via someone I know who peruses the site I know usually two days before here or elsewhere

And around 80% I see is proven either true or close to accurate

“13 days see you in Texas”

Something like that was allegedly the post


3 posted on 05/27/2022 5:33:36 AM PDT by wardaddy (Where did all the same posters go......they cannot have all died ....could they ?)
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To: TigerClaws

My takeaway on this ( and it’s no shock) is that using chat rooms online equate to driving to the Fed’s office to sit down and have a talk with your local agent.


4 posted on 05/27/2022 5:33:38 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: TigerClaws

“What is especially upsetting is that these six people received advanced notice of the Buffalo shooting, about 30 minutes before it happened.


Sounds like they are setting this guy up to be some kind of accomplice.

Even if he had called the Authorities 15 minutes ahead of time, there is a 99% chance that nothing would have happened. As we know from many previous cases, the FBI does absolutely nothing even when it knows about a likely perp MONTHS ahead of time.


5 posted on 05/27/2022 5:45:35 AM PDT by rbg81
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To: rbg81

What if four years ago the Texas shooter threatened to shoot up a school and was arrested for it?

Convicted.

Sent to treatment.

Then on his gun application he listed he lived in a house with a felon (grandfather) not allowed to own guns and that was the shooter’s primary address.

?

https://mobile.twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1530165311445602304


6 posted on 05/27/2022 5:51:38 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

Can’t get through the first sentence. Where is the barf alert?


7 posted on 05/27/2022 5:52:04 AM PDT by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: TigerClaws

It is interesting that in the case the FBI says they checked the database and nobody called anything in.

That means that there is a database to check to see if anyone called anything it.

Then you have this article that says a girl is claiming she called in a tip about the guy in Texas...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10856403/Dead-Daylight-player-threatened-shoot-school-AR-15-days-Texas-massacre.html

However, the FBI isn’t saying whether this is true or not. According to the Buffalo information, all they need to do is look at that database and confirm or deny this claim.


8 posted on 05/27/2022 5:53:58 AM PDT by nitzy
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To: TigerClaws

So the transsexual Mexican was in a Discord group fomenting racial hatred now?

I’m skeptical.


9 posted on 05/27/2022 6:09:26 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Boogieman

Interesting post.

1. We know the photo was NOT the shooter and there’s no indication the shooter was transexual. So you begin with a false premise designed to decrease the veracity of the premise. That’s a common political attack tactic on boards by groups like Media Matters to decrease credibility.

2. Do we know what the Discord group posts said? Where are the transcripts?

3. We know one of the online games had the Texas shooter saying he’d shoot up a a school -and according to the Sun (UK) - someone on the game who heard this contacted the FBI to warn them. What was done to follow up that complaint?

We need public Congressional hearings to have all these questions answered under oath by the various players.


10 posted on 05/27/2022 6:16:07 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws; All

Two teens arrested in ‘mass casualty’ plot in 2018 targeting a Uvalde middle school

https://www.kens5.com/article/news/crime/two-teens-arrested-in-mass-casualty-plot-in-2018-targeting-a-uvalde-middle-school/273-548565605

Hmmm.....

Uvalde CISD issued a statement on Thursday:
Our school district is committed to the safety and education of all our students and we want to clearly communicate about safety issues when they arise. One of our Morales Junior High students was experiencing a crisis. Upon rendering aid and support, the student revealed a future plan to conduct a school shooting in the year of 2022. With the type of detailed information that was revealed by the student to law enforcement and confirmed in their investigation, the student has been arrested and will not be returning to our school. Our school district has a strong partnership with our local law enforcement agencies and emergency responders. They share our commitment to student safety, and we are working closely with them to ensure all information is thoroughly evaluated and our school is as safe as possible.

Is somebody Creeping In the Attic?


11 posted on 05/27/2022 6:19:19 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: bk1000

Me too. Notice the capitalization of the word Black and not for white? Stopped reading right there.


12 posted on 05/27/2022 6:20:55 AM PDT by bigfootbob (Arm Up and Carry On!)
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To: TigerClaws

Saint Sandman probably an unretired federal agent


13 posted on 05/27/2022 6:24:18 AM PDT by delchiante
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To: bigfootbob; null and void

You’re missing the point: what did a government ‘former agent’ know and when did he know it? Did he encourage or help the perp acquire weapons?

In Texas. How was the one door the perp went to at the school unlocked? How did he know it’d be unlocked?

Why did police enforce a stand-down while children were being killed inside?

**

She said families were yelling at officers to do something, and pleaded that their children were still inside. When her brother Angel, who is Amerie’s stepfather, learned from a fleeing child that a girl named Amerie had been shot inside, he ran to try to reach his daughter but was handcuffed by a local police officer, Ms. Garza said.

It was nearly eight hours before he would learn that his daughter had been killed, she said.

“It felt like an eternity,” she said. “They weren’t letting any of us in anywhere. They kept pushing us farther and farther back in case he started shooting again.”

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/26/us/texas-elementary-school-shooting?smid=url-share#a-father-outside-the-school-says-officers-were-just-standing-out-there


14 posted on 05/27/2022 6:25:11 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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Comment #15 Removed by Moderator

To: wardaddy

I don’t poo poo 4Chan. We know the MSM is propaganda, so why should we discount people speaking openly and freely on 4Chan? you’ll get more truth out of such a format


16 posted on 05/27/2022 6:32:25 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: TigerClaws

Yep. Looked at some of the chat logs. Makes sense. He was addressing several people.


17 posted on 05/27/2022 6:51:29 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Miss you Rush!)
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To: Vermont Lt

Been going on a long time.

Terrorists have used gaming chat for years to coordinate.


18 posted on 05/27/2022 7:02:59 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Miss you Rush!)
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To: RushIsMyTeddyBear; All

Can you repost any of the logs or put up a link?

Here’s a post (NSFW language) saying 18 minutes are now ‘missing’ from the police scanner archive for the day of the Texas shooting:

https://twitter.com/sarahjeong/status/1529710536169910272


19 posted on 05/27/2022 7:08:44 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

I don’t have it. Saved the tab and just looked. It’s been 404d. I did read it on 4chan when they were digging.


20 posted on 05/27/2022 7:19:57 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Miss you Rush!)
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