Federal prosecutors filed hate crimes against Payton Gendron, 18-year-old white gunman who fired five dozen shots killing 10 people in what many believe was a hate crime, according to NBC News.
Payton Gendron, 18-year-old who opened fire at a Buffalo supermarket on May 14, will face 26 counts of hate crimes and firearms offenses, which carry the potential of the death penalty, the Department of Justice announced.
“Gendron’s motive for the mass shooting was to prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race, and to inspire others to commit similar attacks,” according to the criminal complaint filed in the Western District of New York.
The charges include 10 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, three counts of hate crimes involving bodily injury and attempt to kill, 10 counts of using a firearm to commit murder during and in retaliation to a crime of violence and three counts of using and discharging of a firearm during and in retaliation to a crime of violence.
Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters in Buffalo, “Hateful acts of violence terrorize not only the individuals who are all attacked but entire communities.” He also stated, “At the Justice Department, we view confronting hate crimes as both as our legal and our moral obligation.”
The prosecutor says, Gendron repeatedly targeted, shot, and killed black people, firing over 60 shots that hit 13 people, killed 10 — 11 of those whom are black at Tops, a predominantly black supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
