Carolyn Thompson, The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, June 1, 2022 2:36 PM EDT Last Updated on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 5:27 PM EDT
BUFFALO, NY (AP) – White man accused of killing 10 blacks in a racist attack on a Buffalo supermarket was charged Wednesday by a grand jury with a charge of domestic terrorism and hate crime that would carry a mandatory sentence life imprisonment. .
Payton Gendron is scheduled to stand trial on Thursday on a 25-count charge, based on a previous murder charge hastily prepared in the hours following the May 14 shooting.
The 18-year-old has also been charged with attempted murder of three people who were shot during the attack but survived, and of using a weapon while committing a crime.
He pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors had told a judge on May 20 that the grand jury had voted to charge Gendron, but did not disclose the charges, saying the proceedings were ongoing.
Gendron’s attorney, Brian Parker, said he had not seen the indictment and could not comment, adding that a judge had prevented prosecution and defense attorneys from publicly debating the case.
The horrific nature of the crime and the number of victims will probably already guarantee a life sentence if Gendron is convicted. New York has no death penalty. But adding a charge of state terrorism could have an additional emotional resonance and help authorities send a message about violent extremism.
The accusation of domestic terrorism – domestic acts of terrorism motivated by first-degree hatred – accuses Gendron of killing “because of the perceived race and / or color” of his victims.
“This man was motivated by hatred against people he never met for no reason other than the color of his skin,” said Buffalo’s attorney John Elmore, who represents the families of the victims Katherine. Kat “Massey, 72, and Andre Mackniel, 53. Elmore said he was awaiting conviction on all charges.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed the Domestic Terror Hate Crimes Act in August 2019, following a mass shooting at Mexicans at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. The measure, dubbed the “Josef Neumann Hate Crime Domestic Terrorism Act” following an attack on a rabbi’s home in Munsey, New York, was signed into law on April 3, 2020 and enter into force on 1 November 2020.
The law extended a previous statute of domestic terrorism passed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that was largely envisioned as a way to deal with international extremism.
Prosecutors said Gendron drove about three hours to Buffalo from his home in Conklin, New York, with the intent of killing as many blacks as possible. Shortly before the attack, he published documents describing his white supremacist views and revealing that he had been planning the attack for months.
The gunman, who was carrying an AR-15-style rifle he had recently purchased, opened fire on Saturday afternoon shoppers at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo.
Assassination charges were filed for each of the victims, who ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included eight customers, the store’s security guard and a church deacon leading shoppers to the store with its groceries.
The shooting, followed 10 days after a mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers inside an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, has renewed the national debate on gun control.
Mackniel was at the store to buy a birthday cake for her 3-year-old son. Massey was a community activist who had championed gun control and fought racism, Elmore said.
“It bothers me to see a white supremacist extremist take his life at the hands of a weapon of mass destruction,” he said. He is part of a team of lawyers studying possible legal action against the gun manufacturers and armor used by the gunman, as well as social media platforms.
The attack was broadcast live from a helmet-mounted camera.
“Somehow we will find justice for the Massey family, for the Mackniel family and all those others who were affected by this tragedy,” Elmore said.
Federal authorities are also investigating the possibility of charges of hate crimes against Gendron, who apparently detailed his plans and racist motivation in hundreds of pages of writings he posted online shortly before the shooting.
Amanda Drury, who lost her 32-year-old sister Roberta Drury, said she lets the legal system say what charges are appropriate in the case.
“I will continue my confidence in the justice system,” he said.
Associated Press writers Michael Sisak and Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.