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Gunman sentenced to life in prison for Buffalo massacre of Black victims
Payton Gendron targeted Black people and posted a rambling online statement that included antisemitic rants and far-right conspiracy theories
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...on-sentencing/
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The gunman who killed 10 Black people in a shooting rampage at a Buffalo supermarket in May was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole at an emotional court hearing in which the judge and a prosecutor denounced the evils of white supremacy and racism.
The proceedings at the Erie County Courthouse were marked by tearful and angry testimonials from victims’ family members. An unidentified man rushed at defendant Payton Gendron before being restrained by law enforcement in the courtroom.
Gendron, 19, who is White, planned the attack for months, according to his online writings, which cited white-supremacist conspiracy theories, racist memes and antisemitic rants. He traveled hundreds of miles from his home in Conklin, N.Y., and targeted the Tops Friendly Markets in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo.
He also live-streamed the attack on social media, saying he was inspired by a mass killer in New Zealand who espoused similar racist ideology.
Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan delivered the sentence, using the moment to denounce the long history of white supremacy in the United States and calling on the nation to fight it.
“Let ours be the generation to put a stop to it,” she said. “We can do better. We must do better.”
To Gendron, she said: “There is no place for you and your ignorant, hateful ideology. There can be no mercy for you. No understanding. No second chances. The damage you have caused is too great. And the people you have hurt are too valuable to this community. You will never see the light of day as a free man ever again.”
Gendron, handcuffed and wearing orange prison clothes, recited a written apology for his crimes, saying he acted out of hate but does not want other white supremacists to be inspired by his actions.
“I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were Black,” Gendron said. “Looking back now, I can’t believe I did it.”
Someone in the courtroom yelled, “You don’t mean none of that!”
Victims’ family members honored their loved ones and condemned Gendron as a terrorist who had shattered their lives and struck fear in the local Black community. Some cried and others pointed at Gendron, addressing him directly.
Barbara Mapps — whose sister Katherine Massey, 72, a community activist who decried gun violence, was among those killed — told Gendron that she wanted to choke him.
“You come to our city and decide you do not like Black people? Man, you don’t know a damn thing about Black people,” Mapps said, pointing at Gendron, who was seated at the defense table. “We’re human. We like our kids to go to a good school. We love our kids. We never go to no neighborhood and take people out.”
At that point, a man who had been standing behind Massey rushed at Gendron, prompting several officers in the courtroom to intervene, as other officers quickly ushered Gendron out of the chambers. After a short break, Eagan asked the families to control their emotions, and the testimony resumed.
Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said after the hearing that the man would not face any legal repercussions for the outburst.
Gendron had included in his writings references to “the great replacement” theory, popular on the far right, which claims that a cabal is seeking to replace native-born White Americans with non-White people, including immigrants.
Gendron pleaded guilty in November to state murder and domestic terrorism charges that, under state law, carry a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. New York does not permit the death penalty. His sentence comes a week after Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime and firearm charges in the shooting deaths of 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, during which he targeted Mexicans.
The victims of Gendron’s attack included Pearl Young, a 77-year-old grandmother who volunteered every weekend at her church’s food pantry, and Heyward Patterson, 67, who often drove members of his church to Tops, helped them load their groceries and then drove them home. In addition to those killed, three others were injured.
Gendron’s self-stated goal, prosecutors said, was to “kill as many Black people as possible” and do so in a manner that would spark a “race war.”
“This sentencing is an opportunity to say no to racism, to say no to hate,” said Justin Caldwell, Erie County’s assistant district attorney.
Gendron still faces federal hate-crime and firearm charges that could make him eligible for capital punishment. The Justice Department is deliberating over whether to pursue the death penalty, and the victims’ families have offered differing opinions on the matter.
Flynn, the district attorney, said at a news conference that Gendron’s apology to the families was insincere and probably represented an effort to escape the death penalty.
Gendron will be transferred to federal custody on Thursday for the duration of the Justice Department’s prosecution, Flynn said. He said he had no insights on where federal prosecutors stand on their decision. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has issued a moratorium on federal executions, will make the final determination.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who attended the hearing, said Gendron’s apology was “much too little, much too late.”
“The time to be remorseful was when he was driving hundreds of miles to Buffalo. He should have stopped himself, turned around and not done it,” Brown said.
Terrence Connors, a Buffalo-based attorney who represents several victims’ families and one survivor, said federal prosecutors told them last month that a decision on the death penalty was not imminent.
“The emotions run the gamut,” Connors said in an interview. “There are those who are anxious to see him receive the maximum punishment, and there are family members who regard him as irrelevant to their lives and will not pay him any deference, but are still hoping to make something positive out of this horrible situation.”
In a 180-page statement, Gendron said he was bored during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and became radicalized after engaging on 4chan, a social media network. He cited Brenton Tarrant, who fatally shot 51 people and injured 40 others in a mass killing at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. Tarrant had titled his own statement “The Great Replacement,” and he live-streamed some of his attack.
Justice Department standards on federal death penalty called confusing
Other mass killers in the United States have cited Tarrant and the great replacement theory. Among them is Crusius, the El Paso shooter, who federal authorities said has schizoaffective disorder. He is facing 90 life sentences in the federal case, while Texas authorities are still pursuing a capital murder case against him.
Another suspect, Robert Bowers, is set to stand trial in April on federal capital charges connected to the 2018 shooting that killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue. Authorities said Bowers cited conspiracy theories about “white genocide” in online posts to Gab, a social media site.
In the courtroom Wednesday, family members of the victims sought to make clear to Gendron what he had taken from them. Kimberly Salter — whose husband Aaron Salter Jr., 55, a former police officer, was working as a Tops security guard and was killed in the attack — said she wore red to symbolize the blood that was shed that day and black because she remains in mourning.
Wayne Jones, whose mother Celestine Chaney, 65, died in the attack, said he watched Gendron shoot her in the footage from his live stream.
“You look like a young man who could be anybody’s son,” Jones said. “You do not come across to me as a racist killer, even though that’s what you’ve done … I don’t wish the death penalty on you. I wish they will keep you alive so you have to suffer with the thought of what you did for the rest of your life.”
Payton Gendron targeted Black people and posted a rambling online statement that included antisemitic rants and far-right conspiracy theories
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...on-sentencing/
.
The gunman who killed 10 Black people in a shooting rampage at a Buffalo supermarket in May was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole at an emotional court hearing in which the judge and a prosecutor denounced the evils of white supremacy and racism.
The proceedings at the Erie County Courthouse were marked by tearful and angry testimonials from victims’ family members. An unidentified man rushed at defendant Payton Gendron before being restrained by law enforcement in the courtroom.
Gendron, 19, who is White, planned the attack for months, according to his online writings, which cited white-supremacist conspiracy theories, racist memes and antisemitic rants. He traveled hundreds of miles from his home in Conklin, N.Y., and targeted the Tops Friendly Markets in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo.
He also live-streamed the attack on social media, saying he was inspired by a mass killer in New Zealand who espoused similar racist ideology.
Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan delivered the sentence, using the moment to denounce the long history of white supremacy in the United States and calling on the nation to fight it.
“Let ours be the generation to put a stop to it,” she said. “We can do better. We must do better.”
To Gendron, she said: “There is no place for you and your ignorant, hateful ideology. There can be no mercy for you. No understanding. No second chances. The damage you have caused is too great. And the people you have hurt are too valuable to this community. You will never see the light of day as a free man ever again.”
Gendron, handcuffed and wearing orange prison clothes, recited a written apology for his crimes, saying he acted out of hate but does not want other white supremacists to be inspired by his actions.
“I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were Black,” Gendron said. “Looking back now, I can’t believe I did it.”
Someone in the courtroom yelled, “You don’t mean none of that!”
Victims’ family members honored their loved ones and condemned Gendron as a terrorist who had shattered their lives and struck fear in the local Black community. Some cried and others pointed at Gendron, addressing him directly.
Barbara Mapps — whose sister Katherine Massey, 72, a community activist who decried gun violence, was among those killed — told Gendron that she wanted to choke him.
“You come to our city and decide you do not like Black people? Man, you don’t know a damn thing about Black people,” Mapps said, pointing at Gendron, who was seated at the defense table. “We’re human. We like our kids to go to a good school. We love our kids. We never go to no neighborhood and take people out.”
At that point, a man who had been standing behind Massey rushed at Gendron, prompting several officers in the courtroom to intervene, as other officers quickly ushered Gendron out of the chambers. After a short break, Eagan asked the families to control their emotions, and the testimony resumed.
Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said after the hearing that the man would not face any legal repercussions for the outburst.
Gendron had included in his writings references to “the great replacement” theory, popular on the far right, which claims that a cabal is seeking to replace native-born White Americans with non-White people, including immigrants.
Gendron pleaded guilty in November to state murder and domestic terrorism charges that, under state law, carry a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. New York does not permit the death penalty. His sentence comes a week after Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime and firearm charges in the shooting deaths of 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, during which he targeted Mexicans.
The victims of Gendron’s attack included Pearl Young, a 77-year-old grandmother who volunteered every weekend at her church’s food pantry, and Heyward Patterson, 67, who often drove members of his church to Tops, helped them load their groceries and then drove them home. In addition to those killed, three others were injured.
Gendron’s self-stated goal, prosecutors said, was to “kill as many Black people as possible” and do so in a manner that would spark a “race war.”
“This sentencing is an opportunity to say no to racism, to say no to hate,” said Justin Caldwell, Erie County’s assistant district attorney.
Gendron still faces federal hate-crime and firearm charges that could make him eligible for capital punishment. The Justice Department is deliberating over whether to pursue the death penalty, and the victims’ families have offered differing opinions on the matter.
Flynn, the district attorney, said at a news conference that Gendron’s apology to the families was insincere and probably represented an effort to escape the death penalty.
Gendron will be transferred to federal custody on Thursday for the duration of the Justice Department’s prosecution, Flynn said. He said he had no insights on where federal prosecutors stand on their decision. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has issued a moratorium on federal executions, will make the final determination.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who attended the hearing, said Gendron’s apology was “much too little, much too late.”
“The time to be remorseful was when he was driving hundreds of miles to Buffalo. He should have stopped himself, turned around and not done it,” Brown said.
Terrence Connors, a Buffalo-based attorney who represents several victims’ families and one survivor, said federal prosecutors told them last month that a decision on the death penalty was not imminent.
“The emotions run the gamut,” Connors said in an interview. “There are those who are anxious to see him receive the maximum punishment, and there are family members who regard him as irrelevant to their lives and will not pay him any deference, but are still hoping to make something positive out of this horrible situation.”
In a 180-page statement, Gendron said he was bored during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and became radicalized after engaging on 4chan, a social media network. He cited Brenton Tarrant, who fatally shot 51 people and injured 40 others in a mass killing at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. Tarrant had titled his own statement “The Great Replacement,” and he live-streamed some of his attack.
Justice Department standards on federal death penalty called confusing
Other mass killers in the United States have cited Tarrant and the great replacement theory. Among them is Crusius, the El Paso shooter, who federal authorities said has schizoaffective disorder. He is facing 90 life sentences in the federal case, while Texas authorities are still pursuing a capital murder case against him.
Another suspect, Robert Bowers, is set to stand trial in April on federal capital charges connected to the 2018 shooting that killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue. Authorities said Bowers cited conspiracy theories about “white genocide” in online posts to Gab, a social media site.
In the courtroom Wednesday, family members of the victims sought to make clear to Gendron what he had taken from them. Kimberly Salter — whose husband Aaron Salter Jr., 55, a former police officer, was working as a Tops security guard and was killed in the attack — said she wore red to symbolize the blood that was shed that day and black because she remains in mourning.
Wayne Jones, whose mother Celestine Chaney, 65, died in the attack, said he watched Gendron shoot her in the footage from his live stream.
“You look like a young man who could be anybody’s son,” Jones said. “You do not come across to me as a racist killer, even though that’s what you’ve done … I don’t wish the death penalty on you. I wish they will keep you alive so you have to suffer with the thought of what you did for the rest of your life.”
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