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BUFFALO
A grand jury indicted the white man suspected of killing ten Black people in a racist attack on a Buffalo supermarket on a state domestic terrorism and hate crime charge that carries a mandatory punishment of life in prison.
Payton Gendron will be arraigned on the new 25-count indictment on Thursday, which adds on a prior murder charge hastily drafted in the hours following the May 14 incident.
The 18-year-old has now been charged with the attempted murders of three people who were shot but survived the attack, as well as with committing a felony with a weapon.
He has entered a not guilty plea. Prosecutors told a judge on May 20 that a grand jury had voted to prosecute Gendron, but they would not reveal the accusations since the case was still pending.
Brian Parker, Gendron's attorney, said he had not seen the indictment and could not comment, noting that a court had forbidden prosecutors and defence attorneys from discussing the issue publicly.
The horrific nature of the crime and number of victims was likely to already guarantee a life sentence if Gendron is convicted. New York has no death penalty. But adding a state terrorism charge could carry additional emotional resonance and help authorities send a message about violent extremism.
Domestic Acts of Terrorism Motivated by Hate in the First Degree accuses Gendron of killing "because of the presumed race and/or colour" of his victims, according to the domestic terrorism allegation.
âThis man was motivated by hate against people he never met for no reason other than the color of their skin,â said Buffalo lawyer John Elmore, who represents the families of victims Katherine âKatâ Massey, 72, and Andre Mackniel, 53. Elmore said he hoped for a conviction on every count.In the aftermath of a mass massacre targeting Mexicans at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, former Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed the domestic terrorism hate crime statute in August 2019. After an attack on a rabbi's home in Munsey, New York, the "Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act" was signed into law on April 3, 2020, and went into effect on November 1, 2020.
The law built on a prior domestic terrorism statute enacted in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which was primarily intended to combat international extremism.
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