New York, United States

A self-declared white supremacist teenager on Monday pleaded guilty to a supermarket massacre that in the May of this claimed the lives of ten black people in New York, United States.

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19-year-old Payton Gendron will now spend the rest of his life in prison. The teenager as per AFP pleaded guilty to one first-degree state charge of domestic terrorism motivated by hate, as well as 10 counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.

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Reuters reports that Gendron is the first person to be charged under a newly enacted New York state statute. The law as per Democrat and Chronicle went into effect in late 2020 and under it, the first-degree domestic charge carries the penalty of life without parole.

Talking to reporters Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said  that Gendron has pleaded guilty to all charges and that "while justice has been accomplished, nothing will ever bring back the 10 beautiful people who lost their lives on that day."

He expressed hope that the "legal closure will provide the families and the victims some measure of relief."

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Gendron still faces the possibility of the death penalty owing to federal hate crime charges levied against him.

The teenager's attack as per AFP was motivated by hate and he had planned it over months, specifically targeting the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo due to its large surrounding African-American population.

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During the hearing, prosecutors claimed that Payton drove 322 kilometres (200 miles) from his hometown of Conklin, with the intention of killing as many black people as possible.

Wielding an AR-15 assault rifle, and wearing body armour, the self-proclaimed white supremacist opened fire on innocent shoppers in the supermarket. He live-streamed the video of the May 14 attack to the social media platform Twitch.

(With inputs from agencies)

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