Payton Gendron, Buffalo man accused of killing 10 Black people, pleads guilty

Payton Gendron, a Buffalo man accused of killing 10 African-American people and wounding three others in a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York in May, has pleaded guilty on Monday to all the charges. 

The charges against Gendron in the grand jury indictment, include murder, hate crime, and domestic terrorism. The last two allegations carry an automatic sentence of life without parole. Gendron has also pleaded guilty to wounding three people who survived the attack.

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Gendron carried out the attack in a Tops Market grocery store in a predominantly Black Buffalo neighborhood. 

“Today, our client pled guilty to every count of the indictment with the full knowledge that he will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole,” Gendron’s attorney Brian Parker said following his choice of plea. “Though the federal case continues his actions today ensure that there will be no state court trial and he will not appeal.” 

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“It is our hope that a final resolution of the state charges will help in some small way to keep the focus on the needs of the victims and the community, because there is still further litigation regarding these events,” Parker added

The accused also faces separate federal hate crime charges that may see him ending up with the death penalty. 

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“He pled guilty to the domestic state terrorism charge, motivated by hate. That is a relatively new statute in our penal law that was enacted within the past ten years. It has never been used before in the state of New York. No individual in the history of the state of New York has been found guilty of that domestic terrorism charge motivated by hate,” said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn. “Until today. And he pled guilty to that highest charge today. He also pled guilty to all the first-degree murder charges. All ten counts.”  

Gendron appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit. He showed little emotion and answered “yes” and “guilty” as the judge called out each of the victims’ names and questioned him whether he killed each victim because they were Black.