Federal prosecutors in Buffalo, New York announced Friday that they will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist responsible for killing 10 Black people in a supermarket. Payton Gendron, 20, is currently serving a life sentence with no chance of parole after pleading guilty to state charges of murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism in the 2022 attack.
Although New York does not have capital punishment, the Justice Department had the option of seeking the death penalty in a separate federal hate crimes case. Gendron had previously agreed to plead guilty in that case if prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.
In a notice announcing the decision to seek the death penalty, U.S. attorney Trini Ross stated that Gendron had deliberately chosen the supermarket in order to maximize the number of Black victims. The notice also cited factors such as substantial planning leading to the shooting and the decision to target at least one particularly vulnerable victim due to old age and infirmity.
Relatives of the victims had expressed mixed views on whether federal prosecutors should pursue the death penalty. After meeting with prosecutors a few hours before a Friday hearing in the case, one of the relatives, Mark Talley, stated that he would rather see Gendron spend the rest of his life in prison suffering every day.
The Justice Department has made federal death penalty cases a rarity since the election of President Joe Biden, a Democrat who opposes capital punishment. However, this is the first time Attorney General Merrick Garland has authorized the pursuit of the death penalty. Under his leadership, the Justice Department has permitted the continuation of two capital prosecutions and withdrawn from pursuing death in more than two dozen cases.
On May 14, 2022, Gendron attacked shoppers and workers with a semi-automatic rifle at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo. He targeted the business for its location in a predominantly Black neighborhood and livestreamed the massacre. The dead, who ranged in age from 32 to 86, included eight customers, the store security guard, and a church deacon. Three people were wounded but survived.
The rifle Gendron used was marked with racial slurs and phrases, including “The Great Replacement,” referencing a conspiracy theory that suggests a plot to diminish the influence of white people.