How 'replacement theory' became prominent in mainstream US politics
ABC News
The alleged Buffalo gunman appears to have been motivated by a racist, far-right conspiracy theory that has increasingly found a footing in mainstream U.S. politics.
The 18-year-old suspect who allegedly shot and killed 10 people at a supermarket on Saturday in the heart of a Black community in Buffalo appears to have been motivated by a racist, far-right conspiracy theory that has increasingly found footing in mainstream U.S. politics.
Before traveling more than three hours from Conklin, New York, to the Tops Friendly Market to attack Black people, the alleged gunman, Payton S. Gendron, is believed to have posted a 180-page document on the internet fixated on the notion of "replacement theory," according to authorities.
"Great Replacement theory is the notion that people from minority populations, both here and in Europe, are replacing the existing white, largely Christian [population]," said Larry Rosenthal, chair and lead researcher of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies.
The theory was embraced by far-right white nationalist groups globally and has inspired targeted mass killings, including the 2015 Charleston church shooting, the 2018 Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue shooting, the 2019 shooting at a Walmart in El Paso and the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand -- incidents that appear to have influenced the alleged Buffalo gunman.
