Gov. Hochul encourages local N.Y. governments to aid in combating extremism and domestic terrorism

ALBANY — Gov. Hochul highlighted steps New York is taking to combat domestic terrorism Tuesday as she encouraged local governments to prepare plans to counter extremism.

The governor cited the race-fueled Buffalo mass shooting that left 10 dead in May as she outlined plans to bolster local efforts to prevent similar tragedies, including $10 million in state funds for the development of Threat Assessment and Management Teams.

“New Yorkers have been victimized. These are our residents, these are our fellow neighbors and that is why there’s a sense of urgency with how we approach this,” Hochul said during virtual remarks made before a summit hosted by the State Division of Homeland Security.

An executive order issued in the wake of the Buffalo massacre requires every county in the state as well as New York City to develop and maintain a plan to address the threat of domestic terrorism, including racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.

According to the governor’s office, local threat assessment management teams will be made up of law enforcement, mental health professionals, school officials, and “other key stakeholders tasked with identifying, assessing, and mitigating the threat of targeted violence.”

Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old white man accused of killing 10 Black shoppers at a Tops Friendly Market in Hochul’s hometown of Buffalo, is facing 10 federal counts each of hate crime resulting in death and using a firearm to commit murder.

He was also charged with domestic terrorism motivated by hate and 10 counts of first-degree murder by state prosecutors.

Law enforcement officials said the alleged shooter traveled three hours to Buffalo from his home in Conklin, N.Y. in order to target Black people after becoming radicalized by consuming white-supremacist content online.

Hochul warned that the state and local officials must be prepared to face additional threats and find ways to eradicate hate.

“He absorbed these toxic ideals and racist philosophies because they’re so easily accessible on social media platforms,” she said Tuesday. “And in some cases, the dark web and cable news networks, and they’ve been mainstreamed.

“I believe that there are probably more cases out there, more people following the example of this one person,” she added. “As we also know, there are a lot of copycat cases. We studied the data.”

The State Police have also established a new unit within the New York State Intelligence Center dedicated to tracking domestic violent extremism and increased social media monitoring as a way of seeking out leads.