US grand jury indicts Buffalo shooter on 27-count of federal hate crimes, firearms charges

The federal grand jury on Thursday indicted the US Buffalo shooter, who has been accused of targeting and killing 10 Black people and injuring three others, on 27 counts of federal hate crimes as well as firearms charges. The mass shooting incident took place two months ago at the Tops grocery store on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, US state of New York. According to a press release from the United States Department of Justice, Payton Gendron of Conklin, New York, has been charged in connection with the mass shooting with 13 weapons charges and 14 breaches of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (Shepard-Byrd Act). 

US Attorney General Merrick Garland and other officials from the Department of Justice made the announcement. According to the indictment, on or around May 14, Gendron allegedly pulled the trigger of a Bushmaster XM rifle and began firing people in and around the Tops supermarket, killing 10 Black people. The Shepard-Byrd Act was allegedly broken by Gendron by intentionally causing the victims' deaths due to their real and perceived ethnicity and colour, the indictment stated. 

In addition to this, the 27-count indictment accuses Gendron of "10 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, three counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill three injured individuals, and one hate crimes count alleging that Gendron attempted to kill additional Black people in and around the Tops grocery store."  

Firearms Charges

“The indictment also charges Gendron with 13 counts of using, carrying, or discharging a firearm in relation to the hate crimes, and seeks forfeiture of items, including the weapon used in the shooting,” as per the release. The special findings in the indictment also claim, among other things, that Gendron committed the crime after extensive premeditation and planning to perform such an act of terrorism. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “The Justice Department fully recognises the threat that white supremacist violence poses to the safety of the American people and American democracy,” as per the release. Garland further added that they will keep working tirelessly to stop hate crimes, help the communities they frighten, and bring those responsible for them accountable. 

Moreover, the indictment's charges include a maximum sentence of either life in prison or the death penalty if found guilty. At a later stage, the Attorney General will choose whether to ask for the death sentence. The law demands that notification be sent to the court at a reasonable period before trial if the Attorney General decides that the offense's circumstances warrant a death sentence. In anticipation of state criminal charges, US Buffalo shooter Gendron is presently in state jail. 

(Image: AP)