The gunman who killed 10 Black people during a racially charged mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York supermarket pleaded guilty to all state charges against him on Monday. He now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Payton Gendron, 19, pleaded guilty to 15 counts, including murder and domestic terrorism charges. Gendron had previously admitted to shooting 13 people at a Tops Friendly Market this past May, in a store located in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo. He was originally indicted by a grand jury on 25 counts relating to the massacre.
The state charges included 10 counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of second-degree murder, and a hate crime-related domestic terrorism charge. Two victims' relatives previously told The New York Times that Gendron had been expected to plead guilty.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In addition to the state charges, Gendron still faces a number of federal hate crimes and weapons charges. If found guilty, Gendron could be facing the death penalty in regard to some of these charges.
Gendron's attack made headlines around the world for its targeting of Black people. Notably, Gendron had described his plans for the racist attack in a number of online writings, and has described himself as a staunch white supremacist. The Associated Press reported that Gendron answered "yes" when the judge asked if he had killed his victims because they were Black.
The shooting, along with the Uvalde, Texas school massacre, reignited calls for firearms reform across the country.
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
