Cardi B, Aly & AJ and more celebrities are speaking out in the wake of the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday.
“Mass shooters are not mentally ill. They have [an] evil mentality,” the rapper tweeted Sunday, while the sister act wrote, “Thinking of Buffalo & the entire Black community today. Replacement Theory is evil rhetoric. Nothing more sad [than] to see this kind of hate acted out on peaceful civilians going about their day.”
According to authorities, the gunman — an 18-year-old white man named Payton Gendron — left 10 dead and three others injured in a local supermarket after posting a 180-page manifesto on the Internet filled with racist rhetoric and espousing the beliefs of replacement theory, an anti-immigrant ideology that has made its way from the online fringes into more of the mainstream after being embraced by certain politicians and media personalities on the right, particularly Tucker Carlson of Fox News.
Rooted in the writings of white nationalist Renaud Camus, the theory claims that the shadowy global elite are attempting to systematically replace white populations with ethnic minorities — first in Europe and now in the U.S. — with the intent of taking away white people’s power.
Bette Midler was also outspoken on her personal Twitter account following the tragedy, writing, “This country is a disgrace” alongside the front-page story in The New York Times about the shooting and reposting a viral tweet that reads, “Freedom isn’t owning 25 rifles, it’s going to the grocery store and not having to worry about being killed by one.
The Broadway veteran also passionately recommended the book The 1619 Project to her followers, writing, “Want to know how we got to where an 18-year-old White Supremacist would go on a rampage, kill ten & then have the balls to plead ‘not guilty’??? Read this, I dare you, & let the sun in, especially Chapter 9, on Self Defense and Chapter 10 on #Punishment” and adding the hashtags, “#Face Your History” and “#400Yrs.”
During his concert in Buffalo on Saturday night, Justin Bieber addressed the tragedy backstage and onstage. Bieber posted clips from his concert at the city’s Keybank Center on Instagram that showed him speaking to his tour crew, as well as the audience, about what he said was a “racist act of terror.”
Read reactions to the Buffalo shooting by Cardi B, Aly & AJ and more below.
Mass shooters are not mentally ill.They have a evil mentality.
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) May 15, 2022
Thinking of Buffalo & the entire Black community today. Replacement Theory is evil rhetoric. Nothing more sad then to see this kind of hate acted out on peaceful civilians going about their day 😢😞
— Aly & AJ (@alyandaj) May 15, 2022
Amen. pic.twitter.com/ddURzhudg9
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) May 16, 2022
This country is a disgrace. pic.twitter.com/9CbhDOeRTh
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) May 16, 2022
Want to know how we got to where an 18-year-old White Supremacist would go on a rampage, kill ten & then have the balls to plead “not guilty”? Read this, I dare you, & let the sun in, especially Chapter 9, on Self Defense and Chapter 10 on #Punishment. #FaceYourHistory #400Yrs pic.twitter.com/ykRn9CzXqz
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) May 15, 2022
