{"id":1514200,"date":"2022-06-13T18:04:22","date_gmt":"2022-06-13T22:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1514200"},"modified":"2022-06-13T18:04:32","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T22:04:32","slug":"fact-check-was-buffalo-mass-shooting-victim-aaron-salter-jr-killed-for-working-on-a-water-powered-car-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-was-buffalo-mass-shooting-victim-aaron-salter-jr-killed-for-working-on-a-water-powered-car-engine\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Was Buffalo Mass Shooting Victim Aaron Salter Jr. Killed For Working On A Water-Powered Car Engine?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-was-buffalo-mass-shooting-victim-aaron-salter-jr-killed-for-working-on-a-water-powered-car-engine%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1514200&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mark.mason.1656\/posts\/pfbid0E7PeZAtLxr6UJLoDvh8rV2fX3Zh57ickMWBv59AwYY4MdxeVJQFscdQZiF1PX2aal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Facebook<\/a> claims Aaron Salter Jr., a security guard who was killed in a recent shooting at a Buffalo grocery store, was targeted because he was developing a water-powered car engine.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7448421\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7448421\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Facebook\/Screenshot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span>Verdict: False<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While Salter Jr. was working on prototypes for water-based car engines, there is no evidence he was targeted for his invention. The alleged shooter was motivated by a racist conspiracy theory, according to NBC News.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Fact Check:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An 18-year-old man allegedly traveled to a Buffalo Tops Supermarket May 14 where he proceeded to shoot and kill 10 people, including Salter Jr., according to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/buffalo-supermarket-shooting-442c6d97a073f39f99d006dbba40f64b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Associated Press<\/a>. Salter Jr. was killed outside of the supermarket while firing at the suspect, the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/25\/buffalo-mourns-aaron-salter-jr-killed-while-firing-at-suspect-payton-gendron\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Post<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>The Facebook post alleges Salter Jr. had been killed by the shooter \u201cbecause he was working on creating a water-powered car engine.\u201d There is no evidence to support this claim. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2022\/06\/10\/fact-check-san-bernardino-white-supremacist-walmart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Have White Supremacists Threatened To Attack Walmarts In San Bernardino County?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is correct that Salter Jr. had been developing a water-based car-powering method, called \u201chydrogen-electrolysis,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democratandchronicle.com\/story\/news\/2022\/05\/17\/buffalo-shooting-victim-aaron-salter-jr-hero-security-guard-who-sprung-action\/9796626002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rochester Democrat and Chronicle<\/a>. His idea was allegedly inspired by rising gas prices and he was working on prototypes, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>However, there is no evidence to suggest the alleged shooter knew Salter Jr. prior to the murder or that his invention was a motivation for the shooting. The suspect created a manifesto shared on Google Docs May 12 that repeatedly mentioned the \u201cgreat replacement theory,\u201d a conspiracy theory that suggests white Americans are systematically being replaced, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/buffalo-supermarket-shooting-suspect-posted-apparent-manifesto-repeate-rcna28889\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NBC News<\/a>. The manifesto said the shooter drove to Buffalo based on the area\u2019s high black population and the fact that it \u201cisn\u2019t that far away,\u201d CBS News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/mass-shooting-tops-buffalo-supermarket\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Erie County Sheriff John Garcia deemed the shooting a \u201cstraight-up racially motivated hate crime,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/05\/15\/us\/payton-gendron-buffalo-shooting-suspect-what-we-know\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CNN<\/a>. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the agency was investigating the crime as an act of \u201cracially motivated violent extremism,\u201d the outlet reported. Check Your Fact found no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=Salter+Jr.+water+car+buffalo+shooting&#038;rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS820US820&#038;ei=ra2nYuvFGqKC0PEPt9eJsAQ&#038;ved=0ahUKEwir0O6Osav4AhUiATQIHbdrAkYQ4dUDCA4&#038;uact=5&#038;oq=Salter+Jr.+water+car+buffalo+shooting&#038;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQghEKABMgUIIRCgAToHCAAQRxCwAzoKCAAQRxCwAxDJAzoFCAAQkQI6BAgAEEM6EQguEIAEELEDEIMBEMcBENEDOgsILhCABBCxAxCDAToLCAAQgAQQsQMQgwE6DgguEIAEELEDEMcBENEDOgsILhDHARCvARCRAjoNCC4QxwEQ0QMQ1AIQQzoRCC4QgAQQsQMQgwEQxwEQowI6DgguEIAEELEDEMcBEKMCOgUILhCABDoHCC4Q1AIQQzoLCC4QgAQQxwEQrwE6CwguELEDEMcBEKMCOgsILhCABBCxAxDUAjoICC4QgAQQsQM6CAgAEIAEELEDOggILhCABBDUAjoFCAAQgAQ6DgguEIAEELEDEMcBEK8BOgcIABCxAxBDOgYIABAeEBY6CAgAEB4QDxAWOgUIABCGAzoFCCEQqwI6CAghEB4QFhAdSgQIQRgASgQIRhgAUPEEWOg-YMo_aARwAXgAgAGlAogB5S2SAQYwLjMyLjSYAQCgAQGwAQDIAQjAAQE&#038;sclient=gws-wiz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">credible news reporting<\/a> to suggest Salter Jr.\u2019s work on water-based cars was a motivation for the attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A post shared on Facebook claims Aaron Salter Jr., a security guard who was killed in a recent shooting at a Buffalo grocery store, was targeted because he was developing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1514200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1514200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1514200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1514200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1514200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1514200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1514200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}