BUFFALO, N.Y. – In a case that has drawn national attention, federal prosecutors announced Friday that they will seek the death penalty for Payton Gendron, a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo. The decision marks the first time that President Joe Biden’s Justice Department has authorized the pursuit of the death penalty. Gendron, who is already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to state charges, drove more than 320 kilometers from his home in rural Conklin, New York, to carry out the attack at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo’s largely Black East Side neighborhood.
The shooting, which left eight supermarket customers, the store security guard, and a church deacon dead, was described by the US attorney for western New York, Trini Ross, as a hate-motivated act of domestic terrorism. In court papers, Ross cited the substantial planning that went into the shooting, including the choice of location, which she said was meant to “maximize the number of Black victims.” The victims of the attack ranged in age from 32 to 86, and the shooting also left three people wounded but alive.
Relatives of the victims have expressed mixed views on whether prosecutors should pursue the death penalty. Some have stated that they would have preferred Gendron to spend his life behind bars, while others see the decision as a pathway to relief and a measure of closure for the victims and their families. An attorney for Gendron, Sonya Zoghlin, expressed disappointment in the decision, noting that her client was 18 years old at the time of the shooting.
Federal death penalty cases have become rare since the election of President Biden, who opposes capital punishment. The Justice Department, under the leadership of Attorney General Merrick Garland, has permitted the continuation of two capital prosecutions and withdrawn from pursuing death in more than two dozen cases. While a moratorium on federal executions has been in place since 2021, the Justice Department has sparingly sought the death penalty in cases.
Gendron carried out his attack on May 14, 2022, using a semi-automatic weapon marked with racial slurs and phrases, including “The Great Replacement,” a reference to a conspiracy theory about diminishing the influence of white people. Prosecutors met with several family members of the victims before the decision to seek the death penalty was made public, and one family member, Pamela Pritchett, expressed the lasting impact of the attack on the community and her goal of healing from the scars left behind.
In a joint statement, attorneys for some of the victims’ relatives stated that the decision to seek the death penalty provides a pathway to relief and a measure of closure for the victims and their families. Amid the continuing national debate on capital punishment and the complex emotions surrounding this case, the pursuit of the death penalty for Gendron remains a focal point in the ongoing conversation about justice and accountability for hate-motivated crimes.