PBS News Hour

GEOFF BENNETT: Last May, a white gunman killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo, New York.

The gunman, now serving a life sentence, drove 200 miles to target that community.

Last week, 16 witnesses of the tragedy filed a lawsuit over the trauma they endured.

They named YouTube and Reddit sites where they say the shooter was radicalized, as well as the retailer who sold his gun and the manufacturer of his body armor.

The suit also names the gunman's parents, who the plaintiffs say knew about their son's violent tendencies, and failed to act.

One of those plaintiffs is Fragrance Harris Stanfield, who was working in Tops that day.

And Eric Tirschwell is the executive director of Everytown Law, which is representing the survivors in this case.

Thank you both for being with us.

And, Fragrance, I read where you said that you initially thought that, a month or two after the shooting, that you would be OK, that the passage of time would bring some healing, but, that ultimately, that wasn't the case.

What has the last year been like for you living with the aftermath of this tragedy?

FRAGRANCE HARRIS STANFIELD, Buffalo Shooting Survivor: It's been horrible.

I didn't think it would traumatize me to the degree that I'd still be feeling the effects, not be able to work and do just regular, normal things or remember things, like I'm suffering now.

So I didn't expect that -- migraine headaches and lots of pain.

GEOFF BENNETT: Eric Tirschwell, this is a fairly novel approach, filing suit on behalf of witnesses, not those who were injured or who might have lost a loved one.

Explain the motivation and why you believe you have standing in this case.

ERIC TIRSCHWELL, Executive Director, Everytown Law: It is unusual to sue after a shooting, even a mass shooting, on behalf of those who were actually not shot.

But, in this case, Fragrance and 15 other individuals who we sued on behalf of, these are folks who were working and shopping at the Tops market last May 14, going about their daily business, and, suddenly, they found themselves literally in the midst of a mass shooting, not knowing if they would live or die, running and hiding for their lives.

And we think it's important to establish a clear precedent in New York that these individuals, that folks who lived through the unimaginable, the unthinkable, what nobody should have to live through, a mass shooting, are entitled to their day in court, and to have their case heard by a jury.

And their injuries should be recognized, particularly with respect to the various companies and individuals who contributed to the harm that they suffered.

GEOFF BENNETT: Fragrance, if I can, can you share what you experienced that day?

And what do you hope comes from this lawsuit?

FRAGRANCE HARRIS STANFIELD: I can say that I saw things that are unimaginable that, still, my brain sometimes doesn't want to accept I actually saw, that I can't forget these things, that it keeps me up at night, that I wake up crying for days and days and days in a row, and that even my daughter, just having regular conversations, because she also worked at Tops and was there that day with me -- we struggle to even have regular, everyday conversations.

But I like the fact that Eric distinguished that these are injuries, because, a lot of times, we are considered to be persons who are not injured by this situation, but the trauma that we are experiencing in our everyday life is an injury.

It feels like your brain does not work like it used to.

You can't control these thoughts that just keep coming back to you.

It could be anything that pushes you right back into those memories.

At some point during the day, something will cause me to be right back there, and I will remember it clearly as if it happened yesterday, but I can't remember yesterday.

So, it's very -- it's a very different life that I live.

GEOFF BENNETT: Eric, as we mentioned, the lawsuit names YouTube and Reddit for their role in allegedly radicalizing the shooter.

We reached out to both companies.

We got statements from both.

I will read part of them, the one from YouTube, part of which reads this way: "YouTube has invested in technology, teams and policies to identify and remove extremist content.

We regularly work with law enforcement, other platforms and civil society to share intelligence and best practices."

Part of the Reddit statement reads: "Our site-wide policies explicitly prohibit content that promotes hate based on identity or vulnerability.

We are constantly evaluating ways to improve our detection and removal of this content."

So, these companies are saying it's hard to pin this tragedy on online radicalization.

What do you say to that argument?

ERIC TIRSCHWELL: It's one thing to say, as these companies regularly do, that they remove and eliminate this content.

But what we have alleged here and what we intend to prove is that YouTube and Reddit were unreasonably dangerous in they -- in the way they were designed.

They are defective products, essentially, and that, through their -- through their algorithms and other mechanisms, they drove content to the shooter, who, as you said -- and, as you say, helped radicalize him, inculcate him in his racist beliefs.

And some of this content provided him with knowledge and information that he used to acquire, and learn how to use military-grade armaments and learn how to carry out this massacre.

So, we believe, under the facts of this case and what we intend to prove, that these companies do bear legal responsibility.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, on that point, what does this case and your approach say about the ways in which Everytown and other advocacy groups are going after and trying to hold to account online sites, gun manufacturers, and, in this case, the shooter's parents?

ERIC TIRSCHWELL: Yes, so we take a holistic approach, and the law recognizes that, when people are injured, when people are harmed, there can be one or more contributing factors.

And, in this case, there's no question that multiple companies and the shooter's parents, their actions combined contributed to the shooting.

GEOFF BENNETT: Fragrance, what's it like in Buffalo now on the city's East Side?

How are -- how are folks they're grappling with this violence, this tragedy that was visited upon them?

FRAGRANCE HARRIS STANFIELD: People are still trying to find a feeling of safety here, trying to redesign the area, so that it doesn't appear the same, much like Tops did with the store.

It looks different.

The city has sponsored and an organization has put on a series of community events in the area to try to change the thought process when people walk by or go by the area.

I personally don't attend, because I try to stay away from that particular area of the city.

But for the majority of citizens there, there is a push to try to find some comfort in that -- in that area.

So I think that's a positive thing.

I think there's a lot more that needs to be done.

But that's for another conversation.

GEOFF BENNETT: Fragrance Harris Stanfield and Eric Tirschwell, we thank you both for your time this evening.

ERIC TIRSCHWELL: Thank you.

FRAGRANCE HARRIS STANFIELD: Thank you.

Thank you for having me.