Buffalo shooter wearing Azov Nazi logo

 

 

By Al Mayadeen English

A groundbreaking fact about the shooting is that it was carried out by a neo-Nazi white supremacist, who had published a fascist manifesto using the "black sun" Nazi symbol. The insignia is used by the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov battalion.

Pictures were circulated of the militant wearing the "black sun" on his chest in photos taken prior to the mass shooting.

US President Joe Biden commented on the incident, saying, "Any act of domestic terrorism, including an act perpetrated in the name of a repugnant white nationalist ideology, is antithetical to everything we stand for in America", though he continuously voices support for the Kiev regime, which backs the nationalist, neo-Nazi Azov battalion, notorious for its white supremacy. 

 

The Soufan Center

In the wake of the New Zealand mosque attacks, links have emerged between the shooter, Brenton Tarrant, and a Ukrainian ultra-nationalist, white supremacist paramilitary organization called the Azov Battalion. Tarrant’s manifesto alleges that he visited the country during his many travels abroad, and the flak jacket that Tarrant wore during the assault featured a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion. Tarrant’s transnational ties go beyond Ukraine, however. Tarrant claimed that he was in touch with Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist, and he took trips throughout Europe, including the Balkans, visiting sites that symbolized historical battles between Christians and Muslims.

• The Azov Battalion is emerging as a critical node in the transnational right-wing violent extremist movement.

• Recruits from the U.S., Norway, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Sweden, and Australia, among others, have reportedly traveled to train with the Azov Battalion.