Buffalo grocery store gunman indicted on terror, hate charge

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The white man accused of killing 10 Black people in a racist attack on a Buffalo grocery store was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on a state home terrorism and hate crime cost that might carry a compulsory sentence of life in jail.

Payton Gendron is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on the new, 25-count indictment, which builds on a earlier murder charge swiftly prepared in the hours after the May 14 capturing.

The 18-year-old has now additionally been charged with the attempted murders of three individuals who have been shot through the assault, but survived, and with using a weapon whereas committing a felony.

He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors had advised a judge May 20 the grand jury had voted to indict Gendron but didn't disclose charges, saying proceedings were ongoing.

Gendron’s attorney, Brian Parker, said he had not seen the indictment and could not comment, adding that prosecution and defense attorneys have been barred by a decide from discussing the case publicly.

The horrific nature of the crime and variety of victims was prone to already guarantee a life sentence if Gendron is convicted. New York has no death penalty. But adding a state terrorism charge may carry additional emotional resonance and help authorities ship a message about violent extremism.

The domestic terrorism charge — Home Acts of Terrorism Motivated by Hate in the First Degree — accuses Gendron of killing “because of the perceived race and/or coloration” of his victims.

“This man was motivated by hate in opposition to people he never met for no reason other than the colour of their skin,” stated 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 each depend.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed the home terrorism hate crime law in August 2019, in the wake of a mass taking pictures targeting Mexicans at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. The measure, dubbed the “Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Home Terrorism Act” after an assault at a rabbi’s home in Munsey, New York, was signed into legislation on April 3, 2020, and took effect Nov. 1, 2020.

The legislation expanded on a previous domestic terrorism statute handed after the 9/11 terrorist assault that was largely envisioned as a way to go after worldwide extremism.

Prosecutors stated Gendron drove about three hours to Buffalo from his home in Conklin, New York, meaning to kill as many Black people as doable. Shortly earlier than 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 just lately purchased, opened hearth on Saturday afternoon buyers at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo.

Murder fees had been filed for each of the victims, who ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included eight clients, the store safety guard and a church deacon who drove consumers to and from the shop with their groceries.

The capturing, followed 10 days later by a mass capturing that killed 19 kids and two academics inside a Uvalde, Texas, elementary faculty, 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 neighborhood 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 extremely upsetting to me,” he stated. He is part of a team of attorneys exploring potential legal motion in opposition to the manufacturers of the weapon and physique armor utilized by the gunman, in addition to social media platforms.

The assault was livestreamed from a helmet-mounted camera.

“One way or the other we’re going to find justice for the Massey family, for the Mackniel household and all these others that have been affected by this tragedy,” Elmore stated.

Federal authorities also are investigating the possibility of hate crime fees towards Gendron, who apparently detailed his plans and his racist motivation in a whole bunch of pages of writings he posted on-line shortly earlier than the shooting.

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

“I’m going to continue with my belief in the justice system,” she mentioned.

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