african americans – The Philadelphia Observer https://philadelphiaobserver.com Just another WordPress site Thu, 19 May 2022 16:30:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 Online diary: Buffalo gunman planned attack for months https://philadelphiaobserver.com/online-diary-buffalo-gunman-planned-attack-for-months/ Thu, 19 May 2022 16:30:52 +0000 https://philadelphiaobserver.com/?p=3814 The man accused of murdering 10 Black people at a grocery store methodically documented his plans in online writings

The white gunman accused of massacring 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket wrote as far back as November about staging a livestreamed attack on African Americans, practiced shooting from his car and traveled hours from his home in March to scout out the store, according to detailed diary entries he appears to have posted online.

The keeper of the diary posted hand-drawn maps of the grocery store along with tallies of the number of Black people he counted there, and recounted how a Black security guard at the supermarket confronted him that day to ask what he was up to. A Black security guard was among the dead in Saturday’s shooting rampage.

Food Network’s ‘Worst Cooks in America’ Star Gets Life Sentence for Murdering Foster DaughterInvestigators work the scene of a shooting at a supermarket, in Buffalo, N.Y., Monday, May 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The diary taken from the chat platform Discord came to light two days after 18-year-old Payton Gendron allegedly opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle at the Tops Friendly Market. He was wearing body armor and used a helmet camera to livestream the bloodbath on the internet, authorities said.

He surrendered inside the supermarket and was arraigned on a murder charge over the weekend. He pleaded not guilty and was jailed under a suicide watch. Federal authorities are contemplating bringing hate crime charges.

Copies of the online materials were shared with The Associated Press by Marc-André Argentino, a research fellow at the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence.

A transcript of the diary entries was apparently posted publicly sometime ahead of the attack. It was not clear whether any entries were widely visible before then. Experts said it was possible but unlikely the diary could have been altered by someone other than the author.

The FBI’s top agent in Buffalo, Stephen Belongia, indicated on a call with other officials Monday that investigators are looking at Gendron’s Discord activity, citing posts last summer about body armor and guns and others last month in which he taunted federal authorities. Belongia gave no details in the call, which the AP obtained.

Source: Online diary: Buffalo gunman planned attack for months

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Tulsa’s Black Wall Street being redeveloped by white companies https://philadelphiaobserver.com/tulsas-black-wall-street-being-redeveloped-by-white-companies/ Mon, 25 Jan 2021 13:17:03 +0000 http://philadelphiaobserver.com/?p=1970

A lawsuit accuses leaders of continuing to enrich themselves at the expense of the Black community in Tulsa

Black entrepreneurs say they have been reduced to renters in the historic Greenwood district, an area of Tulsa, so prosperous, it was once known as Black Wall Street.

Over a hundred years ago, African Americans owned land and built a thriving business community in Greenwood. But in 1921, white Tulsans unleashed a wave of violence on the residents and business owners in the area, callously murdering scores of Black people and destroying what was viewed as a symbol of Black success.

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In more recent times, after a career in sports consulting, Guy Troupe, 54, returned to his hometown with plans to open a coffee shop in Greenwood. He envisioned his new business as a gathering place for Black business owners who would resurrect Black Wall Street.

But that didn’t happen.

Although new businesses have sprung up all around the Greenwood district, they’re mainly white-owned.

According to The Washington Post, millions of dollars in financial incentives have been spent to revitalize the district ahead of an anticipated influx of tourists for this year’s centennial of the 1921 massacre, and Black entrepreneurs say they are being shut out of Greenwood’s development projects and priced out of prime retail locations.

Source: Tulsa’s Black Wall Street being redeveloped by white companies

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