A Growing Epidemic of Extremism in America

The Buffalo shooting has prompted concerns about extremism and hate crimes

BUFFALO, N.Y.— A young man walked into a supermarket with a manifesto, a camera and a modified semi-automatic rifle. Within less than 10 minutes he shot and killed 10 individuals and injured three. As the ninth major shooting incident in 2022, Buffalo has become another reminder of growing gun violence and extremism in America.

Extremism in America has gone beyond rare incidents, and experts suggest radicalization is propagating at a rapid rate through social media. Research from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism has shown that the average time span of radicalization in the U.S. has quickened from 18 months to 7 months. Another study from Elon University found significant patterns between the spread of mass shooting news on social media platforms and an increase in these crimes.

The incident in Buffalo was streamed on Twitch but was promptly removed. Since then, the video has continued to circulate on the internet. This incident has added further fuel to discussions about tighter gun regulations, Second Amendment rights, and social media content moderation.

Sophomore Megan Cherrey, a public health ambassador, believes social media can create a toxic cycle for attention by constantly circulating negative messages. These can then become motivations for violent acts that in turn inspire others.

“When someone commits a crime as horrible as this, it gets so much attention and their name gets popularized so quickly,” Cherrey said.

This spotlight on violent acts has also underscored an increase of hate crimes throughout the United States. Junior Maddy Javier is involved in Santa Clara ethnic studies department where they discuss race, discrimination and hate crimes. Javier believes that extremism has its foundation in false information and social media.

Additionally, Javier remarked that while Twitch and other social media sites have increased content moderation, people are still susceptible to false information. According to Javier, the best way to combat hate crimes is through education and open spaces.

“One thing to be aware of is we kind of get numb to these issues when they occur,” Javier said. “[So] having open spaces to talk about them [and] teaching people how to talk about race is very important. How to be aware of prejudice bias, and implicit bias that you may not notice. [Even] microaggressions, everyday incidents, and just opening yourself up to these conversations.”

With these violent acts on the rise, Director of Campus Safety Services Philip Beltran believes that vigilance and awareness are key. According to Beltran, these mass shooting incidents often come with red flags that can easily be missed.

“I think we're pretty prepared here and I think we're extremely lucky that we have the Santa Clara police department right across the street,” Beltran said. “Many campuses don't have that so I think our response will be quick. But will it be quick enough is the question that keeps me up at night.”

As Santa Clara’s campus reopening coincides with an increase of hate crimes nationally, the possibility of an incident at Santa Clara is not something with which Beltran wants to gamble. While drills are difficult to implement in a university setting, Beltran hopes that Santa Clara can provide self-defense training modules for students.

Beyond training, behavior and activity on social media have become a growing concern for the campus safety services. In developing community partnerships, Assistant Director of Campus Safety Jacob Malae hopes students will notify officers of any hate crime indicators.

Malae said, “The safety of the community is the community's responsibility.”