Buffalo Shooter Tells Court He Shot People ‘Because They Were Black,’ Says He Hopes No One Is ‘Inspired by Me and What I Did’
The man who shot and killed 10 people in a Buffalo, New York grocery store in May 2022 was sentenced to life in prison after a dramatic day in court that included a family member of one of his victims lunging at him and the shooter’s own confession of his guilt.
Payton Gendron, 18 years old at the time of the shooting, traveled to Buffalo to target the heavily Black neighborhood, according to a 180-page rant he posted online prior to the shooting that contained racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Ten people were killed and three others wounded in the shooting, and Gendron was taken into custody. He was charged with first-degree murder and other charges, facing a sentence of up to life in prison without parole (New York does not have the death penalty).
Last November, Gendron pled guilty to the charges against him, which included one count of domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and a weapons possession charge, according to CNN.
During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, victims’ family members and friends were given time to deliver victim impact statements for the court, with several choosing to make their comments directly at Gendron. One man ended up lunging at Gendron and was swarmed by police officers as the defendant was escorted from the courtroom.
CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez reported that authorities told him there were no plans to charge the man who lunged at Gendron.
After the victim impact statements, the shooter himself addressed the court.
“I’m very sorry for all the pain I forced the victims and their families to suffer through,” said Gendron, now 19 years old and wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackles as he stood and spoke. “I’m very sorry for stealing the lives of your loved ones. I cannot express how much I regret all the decisions I made leading up to my actions on May 14.”
“I did a terrible thing that day,” he continued. “I shot and killed people because they were Black. Looking back now, I can’t believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can’t take it back, but I wish I could, and I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did.”
After Gendron spoke, Jimenez reported, a woman in the back of the courtroom yelled out, “He doesn’t mean it!”
The shooter was sentenced to life in prison for these New York state charges. He could still face the death penalty at the federal level, and that was something that is still being considered, according to Jimenez, but Attorney General Merrick Garland had not yet announced what the Justice Department would do.
Gendron’s defense counsel have said that their client will plead guilty to his federal charges too “if it meant the death penalty was taken off the table,” Jimenez added.
Watch above via CNN.
