memeorandum: The Buffalo Shooter Isn't a ‘Lone Wolf.’ He's a Mainstream Republican (Talia Lavin/Rolling Stone)

11:50 PM ET, May 15, 2022

Top Items:

A Fringe Conspiracy Theory, Fostered Online, Is Refashioned by the G.O.P. — Replacement theory, espoused by the suspect in the Buffalo massacre, has been embraced by some right-wing politicians and commentators. — Inside a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, a white man with a history …

Talia Lavin / Rolling Stone:

The Buffalo Shooter Isn't a ‘Lone Wolf.’ He's a Mainstream Republican — The shooter is just the latest to act on it — There's no such thing as a lone wolf — an appellation often given, in error, to terrorists who act alone, particularly those of the white supremacist variety.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Atlantic, UPI, Fox News and Washington Post

New York Times:

Classmates recall the suspect as ‘quiet’ and reclusive. — The man accused of killing 10 at a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday had made threats against his high school, the police said; a gun dealer who said he sold the suspect an assault weapon in recent months described a routine transaction.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Post, NPR, UPI, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Insider, Law & Crime, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, WCDC-TV and The Daily Caller

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

Making Sense of the Racist Mass Shooting in Buffalo — An expert on the white-power movement and the “great replacement” theory puts the act of terror in context. — On Saturday, a gunman murdered ten people and wounded three others at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

Discussion: CNN, WFLA-TV, TheGrio, Media Matters for America, TheGrio, The Daily Wire, New York Times, NewsOne, The White House, WIVB-TV and al.com

Washington Post:

Suspect in Buffalo shooting was investigated last year over threatening statements … An 18-year-old White man is accused of opening fire Saturday at a supermarket in Buffalo, killing 10 people and injuring three others, said law enforcement officials, who are investigating the incident …

Discussion: Fox News, USA Today, Insider, CBS News, CNN and Talking Points Memo

Erie County (New York) Government:

Broome County Teen Arraigned for Killing Ten, Injuring Three in Shooting at Buffalo Grocery Store — Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron of Conklin, New York was arraigned this evening before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig D. Hannah …

Discussion: CNN, WIVB-TV, Breitbart, Democrat and Chronicle, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Law & Crime, Fox News, Twitchy, National Review, The Hill, The Western Journal and Washington Examiner

Associated Press:
Buffalo shooter targeted Black neighborhood, officials say

Buffalo News:
Gunman, 18, drove more than 3 hours to Buffalo to commit hate crime, officials say

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, BizPac Review, New York Post, Mediaite and New York Daily News

Anushka Patil / New York Times:
Gunman Targeted Black Neighborhood Shaped by Decades of Segregation

Discussion: WHTM-TV, The Daily Beast, WIVB-TV, NewsOne and KRON4

Arpan Rai / The Independent:
Gun used in Buffalo supermarket shooting was bought legally but modified, governor says

Discussion: ABC News, Associated Press, KRON4 and Breitbart

Los Angeles Times:

Churchgoers subdued, hog-tied gunman after deadly Laguna Woods church shooting — A gunman attacked a lunch banquet at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, killing one person and wounding five others Sunday before congregants hogtied him with an extension cord and disarmed him of two weapons, authorities said.

Discussion: Associated Press, NBC News, Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times, RedState, Insider, The Daily Wire, CBS News, Townhall, Deseret News, GOSPILLED, Twitchy, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, KLFY-TV, BNO News, Associated Press and UPI

Los Angeles Times:

‘Why? Why our community?’: Laguna Woods shattered by mass shooting at church — Cindy Frazier was running errands Sunday afternoon when she heard the overwhelming sound of police and fire engine sirens as they raced to Geneva Presbyterian Church. — It was an unusual scene …

Discussion: Insider

New York Times:

Growing evidence of a military disaster on the Donets pierces a pro-Russian bubble. — The destruction wreaked on a Russian battalion as it tried to cross a river in northeastern Ukraine last week is emerging as among the deadliest engagements of the war, with estimates based …

Discussion: The Guardian

Associated Press:

Finland, Sweden inch closer to seeking NATO membership — BERLIN (AP) — Finland's government declared a “new era” is underway as it inches closer to seeking NATO membership, hours before Sweden's governing party on Sunday backed a plan to join the trans-Atlantic alliance amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

Financial Times:

Ukraine war is ‘best opportunity’ for nuclear comeback since Fukushima, industry says — Domestically generated power is geopolitically safer than gas imports, according to Japan's largest reactor maker — Russia's war in Ukraine has created the “best opportunity” for Japan's nuclear industry …

Discussion: Politico

Jonathan Lemire / Politico:

Biden's new recipe for the midterms: Less honey, more vinegar — The fever didn't break. And for the Biden White House, efforts at bipartisanship have finally taken a backseat. — To the frustration of many Democrats and some of his closest advisers, President Joe Biden has steadfastly spent …

Discussion: Fox News, Yahoo News, Axios and Newsbusters

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Democracy is at stake in the midterms. The media must convey that. — We journalists have to try harder and find new ways to convey to voters how badly things could turn out. — I was mesmerized this past week by two astonishing videos, watching them both multiple times.

Discussion: The Hill

Mark Murray / NBC News:
Support for abortion rights hits new high as midterm outlook stays mostly unchanged

Discussion: New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, The Guardian and The Daily Wire

Brad Dress / The Hill:

Fauci says he would not serve under Trump again — White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Sunday said if former President Trump wins the presidency again in 2024, Fauci will not return to serve Trump in the White House. — Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden …

Josephine Harvey / HuffPost:
CNN Host Asks Fauci Whether He'd Stay In His Post If Trump Was Re-Elected

Discussion: RedState, al.com and Twitchy

Kate Bennett / CNN:
Melania Trump teases second term as first lady in first interview since leaving White House

Discussion: Mother Jones

Azi Paybarah / New York Times:

Kathy Barnette Says She 'Can't Provide a Lot of Context' for Her Anti-Islamic Tweets — Her sudden rise in the Pennsylvania Senate primary has some Republicans worried about her prospects in November. — Kathy Barnette, a Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania who has climbed …

Discussion: The Daily Wire, Big League Politics and Fox News

Salena Zito / Washington Examiner:
As Barnette raises doubts in PA Senate race, some voters move back toward McCormick

Discussion: Breitbart

Dan Merica / CNN:

Pennsylvania US Senate candidate Fetterman suffers stroke but says he's ‘well on my way to a full recovery’ — John Fetterman, Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and Democratic US Senate candidate, announced Sunday that he had a stroke and went to the hospital on Friday, but said in a statement …

New York Times:

After Buffalo Shooting Video Spreads, Social Platforms Face Questions — Gunmen say they are influenced by online screeds and broadcasts of past shootings. Do social media sites have a responsibility to rein in hateful and violent content? — In March 2019, before a gunman murdered 51 people …

Discussion: Fox News, Bloomberg and New York Post

Devan Cole / CNN:

Nebraska GOP governor says he will call a special session to pass total abortion ban if Roe is overturned — Washington (CNN)Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska said Sunday that he will call a special session of his state's legislature to pass a total ban on abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade this term.

Discussion: The Hill, Mother Jones and TheBlaze