Cuomo addresses Buffalo congregation

Former governor of New York assails ‘extremist’ politicians, ‘toxic’ politics as city reels from racist attack that took 10 lives

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took to Buffalo on Sunday, the latest in a series of politicos to descend upon the city reeling from the racist mass shooting in which a white gunman is accused of killing 10 Black people on May 14.

Amid ongoing speculation about his own political plans, Cuomo denounced the attack and called on Congress to take action on gun control.

“I am sickened by what happened here in Buffalo,” the former Democratic governor said at True Bethel Baptist Church, where his successor, Kathy Hochul, and numerous other elected officials spoke the day after the shooting. “It was shocking, it was so sad, it was so disgusting, what happened here.”

He went on to urge Congress to strengthen gun control, noting that New York already has “the toughest gun safety law in the nation” — a nod to the NY SAFE Act that passed under his watch. The accused shooter in the massacre at a Tops supermarket said he’d bought an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle from a New York gun store and may have purchased a highcapacity magazine — banned in New York — in Pennsylvania.

“We have to do something about these darn assault weapons,” Cuomo said. “No more excuses from our elected officials. I know it’s hard to ban assault weapons. We did it in New York.

“Even our state law isn’t enough,” he continued. “We need federal action.”

On social media, the governor went further than Hochul, who’s criticized big tech companies for hosting hate speech, with Cuomo suggesting that those companies should face criminal liability for the content they host.

“If a social media network is the place where these terrorist plots are being planned, then they should be held legally accountable,” Cuomo said.

The Buffalo shooter published a lengthy hate-filled manifesto online before the attack and livestreamed it on the website Twitch, police said.

Under current federal law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is widely taken to protect social media companies from legal liability for content posted on their sites.

Cuomo made no mention of his August 2021 resignation in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, which he has denied. But he repeated a refrain he’s sounded since he began returning to the public spotlight earlier this year.

“Politics today is toxic,” he said. “But the worst, the most extremist politicians are fanning the flames of hate.”