BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Just days after Buffalo marked four years since the May 14 mass shooting, an attack outside of a San Diego mosque has drawn some striking comparisons to the massacre at Tops supermarket — including evidence that what happened in San Diego was inspired in part by what happened in Buffalo.
Ben Popp, lead threat analyst for the Threat Monitoring Unit of the ADL's Center on Extremism, said the connections between the cases are direct and documented.
"These individuals called themselves the 'Sons of Tarrant,' in reference to Brenton Tarrant, the Christchurch shooter from 2019 who attacked two locations in New Zealand. He's the one who primarily inspired Payton Gendron. And because of that, these individuals were inspired by both Tarrant and Gendron. They do directly quote both in their manifestos," Popp said. "The first one actually opens with a quote from Tarrant and a quote from Gendron."
Popp said the reach extends far beyond their immediate victims.
"At first, it may sound a little bit far-fetched that the actions of these individuals can cause the collapse of society. But, we see how frightening this actually is when we see how effective it is in actually inspiring another attack," Popp said.
Popp said his center works to identify potential mass killings before they occur.
"We say, this person is clearly beyond just interested in mass shooters but acquiring gear as well to potentially prepare for an attack," he said.
WATCH: 'All the more awful': San Diego mosque shooters partly inspired by Buffalo mass shooting
Former Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said one particular similarity stood out to him.
"A dreadful scenario that makes this all the more awful is that both of them decided to video record the shooting," Flynn said.
Attorney John Elmore, who represents the families of several victims in Buffalo and is suing social media platforms Payton Gendron used, said the platforms bear responsibility.
"I can tell you that there has to be moderation and there has to be controls for these social media platforms. They're designed to be addictive," Elmore said.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Erika Shields said officers are already patrolling outside all houses of worship and are being asked to increase their vigilance.
"Now, even more so, we're asking our officers to be even more diligent," Shields said. "Pay attention to anything that's out of the ordinary, a car idling, someone walking the premises, the perimeter and then further engaging with our religious leaders."
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