Buffalo supermarket gunman indicted on terror, hate charge

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The white man accused of killing 10 Black folks in a racist assault on a Buffalo supermarket was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on a state home terrorism and hate crime cost that may carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Payton Gendron is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on the new, 25-count indictment, which builds on a previous homicide cost swiftly prepared within the hours after the Could 14 capturing.

The 18-year-old has now also been charged with the tried murders of three people who have been shot through the attack, but survived, and with using a weapon while committing a felony.

He has pleaded not responsible. Prosecutors had instructed a choose Could 20 the grand jury had voted to indict Gendron but didn't disclose costs, saying proceedings had been ongoing.

Gendron’s lawyer, Brian Parker, stated he had not seen the indictment and could not remark, adding that prosecution and defense attorneys have been barred by a judge from discussing the case publicly.

The horrific nature of the crime and number of victims was likely to already guarantee a life sentence if Gendron is convicted. New York has no dying penalty. However including a state terrorism charge might carry further emotional resonance and help authorities ship a message about violent extremism.

The home terrorism charge — Domestic Acts of Terrorism Motivated by Hate within the First Degree — accuses Gendron of killing “due to the perceived race and/or colour” of his victims.

“This man was motivated by hate in opposition to individuals he never met for no reason other than the color of their skin,” said Buffalo lawyer John Elmore, who represents the families of victims Katherine “Kat” Massey, 72, and Andre Mackniel, 53. Elmore stated he hoped for a conviction on each count.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed the domestic terrorism hate crime legislation in August 2019, within the wake of a mass taking pictures focusing on Mexicans at a Walmart retailer in El Paso, Texas. The measure, dubbed the “Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act” after an assault at a rabbi’s dwelling in Munsey, New York, was signed into legislation on April 3, 2020, and took impact Nov. 1, 2020.

The legislation expanded on a earlier domestic terrorism statute passed after the 9/11 terrorist attack that was largely envisioned as a solution to go after international extremism.

Prosecutors stated Gendron drove about three hours to Buffalo from his residence in Conklin, New York, desiring to kill as many Black individuals as doable. Shortly before the assault he posted documents that outlined his white supremacist views and revealed he had been planning the assault for months.

The gunman, carrying an AR-15-style rifle he had lately purchased, opened fire on Saturday afternoon customers at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo.

Homicide expenses have been filed for every of the victims, who ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included eight prospects, the store security guard and a church deacon who drove shoppers to and from the shop with their groceries.

The shooting, adopted 10 days later by a mass taking pictures that killed 19 kids and two teachers inside a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, has renewed a nationwide debate about gun control.

Mackniel was within the store to buy a birthday cake for his 3-year-old. Massey was a neighborhood activist who had championed gun management and fought towards racism, Elmore said.

“To have her life taken away by a white supremacist extremist at the hands of a weapon of mass destruction is extremely upsetting to me,” he stated. He is part of a crew of attorneys exploring potential legal action in opposition to the producers of the weapon and body armor used by the gunman, as well as social media platforms.

The assault was livestreamed from a helmet-mounted digital camera.

“By some means we’re going to seek out justice for the Massey household, for the Mackniel family and all those others that have been affected by this tragedy,” Elmore mentioned.

Federal authorities also are investigating the potential of hate crime costs against Gendron, who apparently detailed his plans and his racist motivation in a whole lot of pages of writings he posted online shortly earlier than the taking pictures.

Amanda Drury, who misplaced her 32-year-old sister, Roberta Drury, said she is leaving it to the legal system to say what costs are acceptable in the case.

“I’m going to continue with my trust within the justice system,” she stated.

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Related Press writers Michael Sisak and Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.