Lawsuit alleges that social media companies promoted White supremacist propaganda that led to radicalization of Buffalo mass shooter

A wrongful death lawsuit filed against several social media companies Friday alleges that social media lent to the radicalization of the gunman who shot and killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, last May.

The lawsuit alleges that the then 18-year-old Payton Gendron "was not raised by a racist family" and "had no personal history of negative interactions with Black people." Gendron was motivated to carry out the attack at Tops Friendly Market "by racist, antisemitic, and white supremacist propaganda recommended and fed to him by the social media companies whose products he used," according to the lawsuit.

John Elmore is one of the attorneys who filed the suit on behalf of the families of three victims of the mass shooting - Heyward Patterson, Katherine "Kat" Massey and Andre Mackniel, and assistant store manager Latisha Rogers who survived the shooting. Elmore told CNN that this is a "lurking danger."

The lawsuit claims the social media companies "profit from the racist, antisemitic, and violent material displayed on their platforms to maximize user engagement," including the time Gendron spent on their platforms viewing that material.

"Payton Gendron has pled guilty to these murders and is no longer a danger to society," Elmore said in statement from the Social Media Victims Law Center. "However, the social media platforms that radicalized him, and the companies that armed him, must still be held accountable for their actions. Our goal, on behalf of our clients, is to make this community and our nation safer and prevent other mass shootings."

The plaintiffs are asking that the social media platforms change the way they recommend content and provide warnings when content poses "a clear and present danger of radicalization and violence to the public."

The plaintiffs are seeking monetary relief from all of the defendants to be determined at trial.