Photo: USMAN KHAN / AFP / Getty Images
The relatives of the suspect in the massacre at the Buffalo supermarket said to the New York Post on Monday that the young man’s paranoia and isolation were caused by the pandemic.
They added that had no idea that Payton Gendron, of 18 years old, was an alleged white supremacist and they said he clearly needed help after threatening his high school classmates almost a year ago, although they are not sure if it ever received any attention.
“I have no idea how he could have gotten caught up in this. I blame COVID,” said Sandra Komoroff, of 68 years old, cousin of Gendron’s mother Pamela, referring to the alleged hate-fueled rampage of the teenager she left behind 05 Black people killed at a Tops Friendly Market on Saturday.
“He was very paranoid about contracting COVID, extremely paranoid, to the point that, his friends said he would carry a hazmat suit (to school),” he said.
“And then he got COVID just a few weeks ago… He went to family gatherings with a respirator mask on. He wasn’t going to get COVID at all, and then he got COVID.
“They were vaccinated to the max,” she said of the family. “I don’t know if it was a serious case, I just know that he caught it.”
He added that Gendron had “bought the fear of COVID.
“That’s the only way to say it. And when you’re at home all day on the internet, you’re missing out on human contact,” Sandra said. “There are a lot of emotions and a lot of body language that you’re not picking up when you see her face.”
Her husband Dave Komoroff, of 68 years, he added: “In theory, (COVID) could have affected what they call the reptilian brain, the part of the brain that controls aggression.
“I can’t say it’s impossible, but maybe it will happen one of many millions of times”.
Before the massacre on Saturday , Gendron had allegedly written a rambling 180 page white supremacist manifesto that spouted a racist philosophy and outlined his step-by-step plans for the massacre , police sources said.
In the chilling document, the teenager described how he had become “radicalized” online due to “extreme boredom” during the first days of the pandemic.
The Komoroffs denied knowing anything about Gendron’s allegedly horrible racist leanings, and Dave said, “He’s very smart.
“I don’t know where he went online , the dark web or wherever, but apparently he got into some nasty stuff. He’s smart enough to get into dangerous stuff online that maybe the average person wouldn’t know how to do.”
As for To a threatening missive at his school in June of last year, in which Gendron was asked about his future plans and he replied that he wanted to commit suicide, Dave said, “My question is, and I don’t know the answer either, but Did they do something?
“Parents are accommodated. Did they put him in some kind of therapy? Because when they get to the civil lawsuit, that’s what’s going to come out. Someone will ask: ‘What did you do last year after this incident?’ They will ask the parents: ‘What did you do? What did you do to help this child?
“Parents are college educated. They are intelligent. They are engineers, they are not mountain people. ‘Did you think I needed help?’”
At that time, the State Police responding to that incident took Gendron to the hospital for a psychological evaluation, but was discharged after a day and a half.
“Lights should have been turned on”, said Sandra. “This child should have been in some kind of empathy training that teaches that these are human beings.”
“It is a good family, a very good family. It is inconceivable to me what happened. They are very ordinary people, fearful of God”, said Sandra.
“I don’t understand the racist, because my family is the furthest thing from the racist . I have never heard a racist comment from him, from his parents. It’s almost like it just exploded. Something in him broke.
“The whole family is in shock”.
Gendron, who had traveled some 200 miles from his home in Conklin, New York, was arrested minutes after he carried out the racially motivated attack in the predominantly black neighborhood, the police said. policeman. He was indicted on a murder charge over the weekend and federal prosecutors said they are considering hate crime charges.
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