Buffalo supermarket 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 supermarket was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on a state home terrorism and hate crime charge that will 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 previous homicide cost rapidly prepared within the hours after the May 14 shooting.

The 18-year-old has now also been charged with the tried murders of three people who were shot during the assault, however survived, and with using a weapon while committing a felony.

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

Gendron’s lawyer, Brian Parker, mentioned he had not seen the indictment and couldn't remark, including that prosecution and defense attorneys have been barred by a decide from discussing the case publicly.

The horrific nature of the crime and number 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 further emotional resonance and help authorities ship a message about violent extremism.

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

“This man was motivated by hate towards people he by no means met for no motive apart from the colour of their 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 rely.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed the home terrorism hate crime law in August 2019, within the wake of a mass shooting targeting Mexicans at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. The measure, dubbed the “Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act” after an attack at a rabbi’s dwelling in Munsey, New York, was signed into regulation 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 method to go after international extremism.

Prosecutors said Gendron drove about three hours to Buffalo from his dwelling in Conklin, New York, aspiring to kill as many Black individuals as possible. Shortly before the assault he posted paperwork 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 lately bought, opened hearth on Saturday afternoon customers at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo.

Murder fees were filed for each of the victims, who ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included eight clients, the shop security guard and a church deacon who drove customers 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 college, has renewed a national debate about gun control.

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

“To have her life taken away by a white supremacist extremist at the hands of a weapon of mass destruction is extraordinarily upsetting to me,” he mentioned. He is a part of a staff of attorneys exploring potential legal action towards the manufacturers of the weapon and body armor used by the gunman, in addition to social media platforms.

The attack was livestreamed from a helmet-mounted camera.

“In some way we’re going to seek out justice for the Massey family, for the Mackniel household and all those others that had been affected by this tragedy,” Elmore mentioned.

Federal authorities are also investigating the possibility of hate crime fees against Gendron, who apparently detailed his plans and his racist motivation in tons of of pages of writings he posted online shortly before the capturing.

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

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

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