The 19-year-old chose the scene of his crime with care: the area around the supermarket where Payton Gendronn shot ten people six months ago is mostly black. He confesses to the crime in court. Theoretically, he faces the death penalty.
Six months after the racially motivated attack on a supermarket in upstate New York that killed 10 black people, the shooter has pleaded guilty to all charges. Payton Gendron, 19, pleaded guilty to charges including 10 counts of murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism, prosecutor John Flynn said after a court hearing.
Domestic terrorism carries a sentence of life imprisonment without parole in the state of New York. On May 14, the then 18-year-old Gendron attacked a supermarket in the city of Buffalo that was mostly frequented by blacks. The white man, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, shot dead ten African Americans in front of and inside the store and injured three other people.
During the attack, he wore a helmet with a camera, which he used to broadcast the attack live on the online platform Twitch. Gendron had been preparing the attack for months. He chose the supermarket because mostly black people live in the area. For the attack, he traveled from his hometown of Conklin, more than 320 kilometers away.
“While justice has been served, nothing will ever bring back the ten wonderful people who lost their lives that day,” prosecutor Flynn said. “Hopefully the legal settlement will bring some relief to the families and the (surviving) victims.” Gendron was also charged by the federal judiciary with a hate crime. Theoretically, the 19-year-old faces the death penalty in this process.