Buffalo grocery store gunman indicted on terror, hate charge

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

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

The 18-year-old has now also been charged with the attempted murders of three people who were shot through the assault, but survived, and with utilizing a weapon whereas committing a felony.

He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors had informed a decide Might 20 the grand jury had voted to indict Gendron but did not disclose prices, saying proceedings were ongoing.

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

The horrific nature of the crime and variety of victims was more likely to already assure a life sentence if Gendron is convicted. New York has no death penalty. However including a state terrorism charge may carry extra emotional resonance and help authorities ship a message about violent extremism.

The domestic terrorism charge — Domestic Acts of Terrorism Motivated by Hate in the First Diploma — accuses Gendron of killing “due to the perceived race and/or color” of his victims.

“This man was motivated by hate towards individuals he by no means met for no motive other than the colour of their pores and skin,” mentioned Buffalo lawyer John Elmore, who represents the households of victims Katherine “Kat” Massey, 72, and Andre Mackniel, 53. Elmore stated he hoped for a conviction on every depend.

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

The regulation expanded on a earlier home terrorism statute handed after the 9/11 terrorist attack that was largely envisioned as a technique to go after worldwide extremism.

Prosecutors mentioned Gendron drove about three hours to Buffalo from his dwelling in Conklin, New York, intending to kill as many Black individuals as potential. Shortly before the attack he posted paperwork 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 not too long ago bought, opened hearth on Saturday afternoon shoppers at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo.

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

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

Mackniel was in the retailer to purchase a birthday cake for his 3-year-old. Massey was a community activist who had championed gun control and fought against racism, Elmore said.

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

The assault was livestreamed from a helmet-mounted digicam.

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

Federal authorities also are investigating the potential of hate crime prices against Gendron, who apparently detailed his plans and his racist motivation in hundreds of pages of writings he posted on-line shortly before the shooting.

Amanda Drury, who lost her 32-year-old sister, Roberta Drury, mentioned she is leaving it to the authorized system to say what charges are applicable within the case.

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

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