Buffalo supermarket shooting suspect Payton Gendron faces federal hate crime charges, possible death penalty

By Edward Era Barbacena

Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old white man accused of hunting and killing 10 Black people in a Buffalo supermarket, could face the death penalty.

Prosecutors in the Western District of New York charged Gendron on Wednesday with 10 counts of hate crime resulting in death, three counts involving bodily injury and attempt to kill, 10 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder and in retaliation to a crime of violence and three counts of use and discharge of a firearm during and in retaliation to a crime of violence.

The charges for use of a firearm to commit murder and in retaliation to a crime of violence carry the death penalty if prosecutors decide to pursue that.

“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,” the criminal complaint reads.

On May 14, the teenager allegedly drove more than three hours from his hometown of Conklin, New York, to the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo and opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle, according to officials.

Of the 13 victims, 11 were Black, including all 10 fatalities.

In a 180-page manifesto in Gendron’s name and posted online, the teenager allegedly wrote that he targeted Buffalo because it had the “highest Black percentage that is close enough to where I live.” He also allegedly had the N-word painted on the barrel of his modified assault weapon.

Gendron also reportedly shared his plans in a private Discord chat room, describing killing and mutilating a cat and being committed to a medical facility for psychiatric evaluation after he told his high school class that he planned to commit “murder/suicide,” according to the Washington Post. His alleged assault was livestreamed in that chat room.

He has already pleaded not guilty to state charges, including a domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime, three counts of attempted murder as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.

Gendron faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted on the state charges.

He is due back in court Thursday morning for his arraignment on the federal charges.