Additional Coverage:
A 24-year-old man from Texas, identified as Hayden Espinosa of Corpus Christi, has been accused of dealing in illegal firearms and gun components from his incarceration in a Louisiana facility. On Tuesday, it was disclosed that Espinosa engaged in communications with Payton Gendron, a teenager who carried out a racially charged mass shooting in a Buffalo supermarket in 2022.
Manhattan’s District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, expressed his grave concerns on Tuesday, labeling the situation as a blending of firearm proliferation and extremist ideologies. Espinossa faces charges including four felony counts related to the transport of firearms, silencers, and attempts to sell these illegal items.
While the connection between Espinosa and legal representation remains uncertain, the investigation into the 2022 Buffalo tragedy at a Tops supermarket led authorities to uncover Espinosa’s operation. From behind bars, he managed to sell firearms and modification devices through a Telegram channel purportedly called “3D Amendment,” which authorities say was steeped in extremist ideologies.
Manhattan’s DA stressed the peril of combining firearms with extremist views, noting that Espinosa’s channel attracted followers with white supremacist beliefs and those subscribing to “accelerationism,” a theory advocating for violent upheaval to establish a new far-right sociopolitical order.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed that Espinosa directly sold firearms to Gendron, the investigation by the NYPD’s Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism (REME) squad into the Buffalo shooting uncovered Espinosa’s extensive dealings in illegal firearms and firearm components.
Operating out of the Federal Correctional Complex in Pollock, Louisiana, Espinosa managed to sell to undercover NYPD officers multiple times between August and November 2023. Upon his release from federal prison, Espinosa was immediately arrested under a New York State Supreme Court indictment.
The capture of Espinosa and the revelation of his activities underscore the challenges and threats posed by gun violence and extremism in the U.S. NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban has lauded the efforts of the REME squad, emphasizing the department’s commitment to dismantling networks that fuel hate through gun trafficking. Espinosa is expected to be arraigned in New York on June 24.