Payton Gendron verdict: Buffalo supermarket gunman to serve life in prison
Rachel Schilke
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The Buffalo supermarket gunman who took the lives of 10 people will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Payton Gendron, 19, was sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty in November 2022 to 15 criminal charges, including domestic terrorism and first-degree murder. On May 14, Gendron opened fire in a Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people and injuring three others.
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The supermarket was located in a predominantly black area of Buffalo, and all of the victims killed were black, an intentional move on Gendron’s part. He posted a 180-page manifesto online in which he confessed to the attack and said his actions were racially motivated. He labeled himself as a fascist, white supremacist, and antisemite.
Wednesday’s sentencing lasted several hours, with tensions running high in the courtroom. At one point, a victim’s relative lunged at Gendron, prompting officers to take the convicted shooter out of the room.
“You don’t know what we’re going through,” the relative shouted as he was also led away by court officers.
Several other victims’ relatives testified before the judge and Gendron on how the shooting affected their lives.
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Gendron faces 26 counts of federal hate crimes, as well, which he has not pleaded guilty to. The federal charges carry a death sentence, should the Justice Department choose to pursue that.
The DOJ has not yet announced a date for the case against Gendron, which will likely be decided based on Wednesday’s sentencing. Gendron’s guilty plea in the state charges was largely designed to avoid a death penalty sentence from the federal government. Because New York does not have the death penalty, the criminal charge of terrorism in his state case automatically carried a life sentence.
The shooting at the Buffalo supermarket was one of the largest mass shootings in 2022 and one of the most high profile crimes of the year.