According to The Buffalo News, the alleged perpetrator of the racist mass shooting in Buffalo offered to share his plans with several online friends in the half hour before the massacre — including one online friend who is believed to be a retired federal agent from Texas. The shooter and the retired federal agent "regularly communicated … in an online chat room where racist hatred was discussed."
The retired federal agent was one of six friends who are alleged to have received advanced notice of the shooting, including an offer to view the shooter's plans. None of them warned authorities.
"These were like-minded people who used this chat group to talk about their shared interests in racial hatred, replacement theory and hatred of anyone who is Jewish, a person of color or not of European ancestry," said one of the two law enforcement officials with close knowledge of the investigation. "What is especially upsetting is that these six people received advanced notice of the Buffalo shooting, about 30 minutes before it happened.
[…]
Agents from the FBI are in the process of tracking down and interviewing the six people, including the retired agent, and attempting to determine if any of them should be charged as accomplices, the two sources with close knowledge of the probe told The Buffalo News.
So it's not that the retired federal agent was undercover or sharing information with authorities; they just happened to be a part of the same online community for white supremacists.
This reminds me of that ancient proverb — what was it? Ahh, yes: "Some of those who are employed by law enforcement organizations are the same people who set crosses on fire."
Something to that affect.
Authorities investigating if retired federal agent knew of Buffalo mass shooting plans in advance [Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck / Buffalo News]
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