London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was reportedly named on a list of enemies of the Buffalo shooter, said that he would not allow threats from “terrorists”.
“My heart goes out to those 10 families who are grieving. We know white supremacist terrorists want to divide communities, make us cower, make us not lead the pluralistic lives we lead. Diversity is a strength and I’m not going to allow terrorists like this man to change the way I lead my life. But it’s really important that we as a city recognise that because of our pluralism, our diversity, our values we are a target for terrorists, in Buffalo or London – we’ve got to be vigilant, never complacent,” Khan said as quoted by The Guardian.
Asked whether he felt safe, Khan said that felt incredibly safe because he is “looked after by dedicated, decent brave police officers.”
On 14 May, a shooting in a supermarket in the city of Buffalo left 10 people dead and three injured. The FBI said the incident was a racially motivated hate crime, and President Joe Biden called for every effort to end "hate-fuelled domestic terrorism".
Buffalo shooting suspect Payton Gendron compiled a list of "high-ranking enemies" in his manifesto, calling on like-minded people to kill them. Khan was described as a "Muslim invader" in the manifesto.
"This Pakistani Muslim invader now sits as representative for the people of London. Londinium, the very heart of the British isles. What better sign of the white rebirth than the removal of this invader?" the manifesto reads, as citied by the Daily Mail.
In addition to the mayor of London, US-Hungarian billionaire George Soros and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were on the list.