Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) had harsh words for Republican leadership, saying that her party enables “white nationalism” that led to a mass shooting in a Buffalo, New York supermarket over the weekend.
“The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism. History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them,” Cheney said in a post on Twitter.
The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism. History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 16, 2022
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The shooting occurred at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in Kingsley, an eastern neighborhood of Buffalo, New York. Ten people were killed, and three others were injured; eleven of the victims were African American. The shooter described himself as a white supremacist and voicing support for the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory.
The theory is a favorite in white nationalist circles. It states that non-white individuals are being brought into the United States and other Western countries to “replace” white voters and achieve political supremacy.
The shooter is reported to have written a 180-page manifesto released prior to the shooting, primarily concerning the topic of mass immigration. He was arraigned in a Buffalo court and entered a not guilty plea to multiple charges of first-degree murder.
Prominent Republicans, including Representative Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who replaced Cheney as the House Conference Chair after Cheney pushed back against former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 general election, have suggested that the shooting had nothing to do with white nationalism even though the shooter espoused multiple white nationalist talking points in his manifesto.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
