Extremism in WNY

Now two years removed from the Jan. 6 insurrection, most of the Western New Yorkers charged with storming the U.S. Capitol building that day have resolved their cases, but some cases are ongoing.

While election denial may be most visible in swing states, it’s also here in heavily Democratic New York, where President Biden won by 23 percentage points.

A recent report found at least 13 book bans across four New York school districts last year. Although none of those were in Western New York, the issue has been playing out locally in school board meetings and social media pages.

Anti-hate experts in Canada are calling for more government action to counter what they say has become increasing right-wing extremism in the country.

Exactly one week after President Joe Biden warned that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans represent an extremist threat to the U.S., New York Democrats on Thursday sounded the alarm about who they say represents an extremist threat to the state: GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin.

An extremist style, in theory, should have worked in a district that Donald Trump won by double-digits. So political analysts and insiders aren’t convinced Paladino’s defeat can be considered an outright rejection of extremism.

The ReAwaken American Tour that recently visited a Batavia church features Christian nationalist ideology in several ways: the proclamation that America is a Christian nation, the idea that Donald Trump’s presidency was God’s will, and even anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.

The rules surrounding tax-exempt churches and politics leave plenty of gray area, and even when there are violations, the rules are rarely enforced.

More than 3,500 people from Western New York and across the U.S. heard a mix of pastors, former Trump officials, Jan. 6 participants and vaccine skeptics make false claims about everything from the 2020 election to the COVID-19 pandemic during the far-right roadshow’s two-day stop at Batavia’s Cornerstone Church this past weekend.

A mix of religion, politics and conspiracy theories is what Western New Yorkers can likely expect during the tour’s stop at Cornerstone Church in Batavia Friday and Saturday.