The Justice Department on Wednesday unveiled federal hate crimes charges against the suspected shooter in the Buffalo grocery store massacre last month, when authorities say …
The Justice Department on Wednesday unveiled federal hate crimes charges against the suspected shooter in the Buffalo grocery store massacre last month, when authorities say he specifically targeted Black victims in an assault that left 10 people dead. The 26-count complaint, which includes 10 murder charges, makes Payton Gendron, 18, eligible for a possible death sentence if convicted.
“Gendron’s motive for the mass shooting was to prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race, and to inspire others to commit similar attacks”, according to court documents. At one point during the vicious attack, federal authorities alleged that the gunman aimed his assault-style rifle at a white employee of the Tops Friendly Market but abruptly apologized and turned away to seek out other Black victims.
“Rather than shooting him, Gendron said, ‘Sorry’, to the employee,” the documents state. Following Gendron’s arrest at the scene, authorities seized the rifle used in the attack and found it marked with racial slurs, the names of other mass shooters, and other statements, including “Here’s your reparations!”
In a search of Gendron’s Conklin, New York, home the day after the shooting, federal investigators recovered a handwritten note in which he allegedly apologized to his family, claiming that he acted “for the future of the white race.
