A month after a massacre at a Buffalo supermarket left 10 black residents dead, federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged the gunman with 26 counts of hate crime and gun rape.
Some of the federal charges could carry the death penalty, although there is currently a moratorium on federal executions.
The news of the criminal complaint, which contained new evidence of the suspect’s racist hatred and his commitment to plan an attack that would kill as many blacks as possible, came when Attorney General Merrick Garland traveled to Buffalo on Wednesday to visit the site. of the complaint. massacre.
The suspect, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, is a confessed white supremacist who wore body armor and a semi-automatic rifle while broadcasting the attack live online. In the days leading up to the attack, he also published a long diatribe describing his belief in the so-called replacement theory, a belief rooted in white supremacy that proposes a scheme to “replace” whites with people of color. .
A total of 13 people were shot dead at the Tops on the afternoon of May 14; three survived.
In a statement filed Wednesday, an FBI agent said the suspect’s motive was “to prevent blacks from replacing whites and eliminating whites, and to inspire others to commit similar attacks.”
Authorities said earlier that he had planned his massacre in detail, traveling more than 200 miles from his home in Conklin, New York, after choosing the East Side neighborhood in Buffalo because of the large number of residents. black. He is also believed to have written a series of private posts about his plans on Discord, a messaging platform, which he made public shortly before the attack, full of racist ramblings and plans for his attack.
Prosecutors decided to file charges in the hours following the attack, but waited until the local prosecutor’s office announced its charges and the FBI completed its investigation, according to officials involved in the investigation. .
Investigators have previously said that the gunman visited the Tops market before the attack for reconnaissance, but the federal complaint contained new details, including a March 8 visit in which he “created two sketches of the provision. inside the supermarket “and counted the number of black people inside and outside the store, including ATMs and two black security guards. The day before the attack, he returned and stayed both inside and outside the store.
Finally, on the day of the attack, according to federal prosecutors, he visited a few hours before the shooting began and “observed a ‘healthy number of black elderly and young people’ in the store.”
The federal complaint also includes other knowledge about the suspect’s mood and preparations, including a handwritten note he left in his bedroom the morning of the shooting, in which he wrote that he “had to commit this attack” because he cares. “for the future of the white race.”
Federal charges include 10 charges each of hate crimes and use of a firearm to commit murder, one for each of the people killed in the attack.
In addition, Trini E. Ross, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York, charged the suspect with three counts of hate crimes and charges of firearms related to the three people who were injured but not they died in the commotion.
Charges of hate crimes carry the possibility of the death penalty, which will be determined on the basis of the deliberations of a group of Justice Department officials. But while Ms. Ross said during a news conference shortly after the murder that the death penalty was “on the table,” the department has imposed an indefinite moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
Mr. Garland, since taking office last year, has not authorized any local U.S. attorney to pursue the death penalty against a convicted defendant in an eligible case, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Mr Garland’s visit came two weeks after the suspect was charged with 25 counts of murder and other state charges, including a hate-motivated domestic terrorism charge, which is believed to be the first time the 2020 law is imposed on a defendant.
Mr Gendron has pleaded not guilty to those charges and is being held without bail.
The Tops attack and an even more deadly massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, have already affected both politics and politics in New York, including the passage of a series of new state laws aimed at tightening the rules. restrictions on gun ownership, such as raising the minimum age for buying a semi-automatic rifle to 21 years. Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul also issued a couple of executive orders, including one to improve control of online extremism by state police.
The massacre in Buffalo also prompted Rep. Chris Jacobs, a Republican representing some of the city’s suburbs, to adopt a series of gun control measures, prompting a furious backlash from members of his own party. In response, Mr. Jacobs said she is not running for a new term in November, denouncing many Republicans’ unconditional opposition to any gun control.
On Sunday, Senate leaders in Washington said they had reached a framework for a bipartisan agreement on a series of modest reforms, which include improved background checks for potential arms buyers under the age of 21 and funding for the so-called red flag laws that allow the authorities. confiscate weapons from persons considered dangerous to themselves or others.
Dan Higgins contributed reports from Buffalo and Glenn Thrush contributed reports from Washington. Ben Weiser contributed a report from New York.