NEW YORK (AP) — A New York Republican running to represent a congressional district that includes suburbs of Buffalo, New York, shared and deleted a conspiracy-laden Facebook post suggesting a racist mass shooting in Buffalo and other mass killings were part of a plot to take away people’s guns. The lengthy June 1 post shared by Buffalo developer Carl Paladino said in almost every mass shooting, including the shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo last month and a shooting at a Texas elementary school, “there are strange occurrences that are never fully explained.” Paladino denied writing the post initially, but then changed his story in an interview with the Buffalo News.
Photo:FILE – In this Nov. 2, 2010, file photo, Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino holds a baseball bat as he concedes the election in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/David Duprey, File)