Buffalo grocery store gunman indicted on terror, hate charge

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The white man accused of killing 10 Black individuals in a racist assault on a Buffalo grocery store was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on a state domestic terrorism and hate crime charge 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 earlier homicide charge unexpectedly ready within the hours after the Might 14 taking pictures.

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

He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors had told a judge Might 20 the grand jury had voted to indict Gendron but did not disclose expenses, saying proceedings have been ongoing.

Gendron’s attorney, Brian Parker, mentioned he had not seen the indictment and could not remark, 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 prone to already guarantee a life sentence if Gendron is convicted. New York has no death penalty. However adding a state terrorism charge may carry extra emotional resonance and assist 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 “because of the perceived race and/or coloration” of his victims.

“This man was motivated by hate towards individuals he never met for no purpose 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 said he hoped for a conviction on each rely.

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

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

Prosecutors mentioned Gendron drove about three hours to Buffalo from his house in Conklin, New York, intending to kill as many Black folks as possible. Shortly earlier than the attack he posted documents that outlined his white supremacist views and revealed he had been planning the attack for months.

The gunman, carrying an AR-15-style rifle he had not too long ago purchased, opened fireplace on Saturday afternoon customers at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo.

Homicide expenses had been filed for every of the victims, who ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included eight prospects, the store safety 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 shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers inside a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, has renewed a national debate about gun control.

Mackniel was in the retailer to purchase a birthday cake for his 3-year-old. Massey was a neighborhood activist who had championed gun control 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 mentioned. He is part of a team of attorneys exploring potential legal motion against the manufacturers of the weapon and physique armor used by the gunman, as well as social media platforms.

The attack was livestreamed from a helmet-mounted camera.

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

Federal authorities also are investigating the opportunity of hate crime charges towards Gendron, who apparently detailed his plans and his racist motivation in a whole bunch of pages of writings he posted online shortly before the taking pictures.

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

“I’m going to proceed with my belief in the justice system,” she said.

___

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