New Lawsuit Says Social Media and Gun Companies Played Roles in 2022 Buffalo Shooting

The attorneys and families of the Buffalo Tops supermarket shooting victims filed a new civil lawsuit Wednesday against several social media platforms, gun retailers, and the shooter’s parents for their roles in the shooting.

The 176-page lawsuit filed in the New York Supreme Court argues that several corporations in addition to the shooter’s parents played a role in May 2022 deadly mass shooting that killed 10 Black people and injured three others.

Nearly a dozen companies were mentioned in the lawsuit, including Meta (which owns both Facebook and Instagram), Reddit, Amazon (which owns Twitch), Google, YouTube, Discord and 4Chan. Other companies named in the lawsuit as defendants include RMA Armament — a body-armor manufacturer — and Vintage Firearms, LLC, a gun retailer.

The lawsuit also argues that the gunman, now 20-year-old Payton Gendron was radicalized by these social media platforms, which directly lead to him carrying out the deadly shooting.

Read more at NPR

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