Buffalo shooting suspect charged with federal hate crimes, Garland meets with victims' families

The Justice Department on Wednesday unveiled federal hate crimes charges against the suspected shooter in the Buffalo grocery store massacre last month, when authorities say he specifically targeted Black victims in an assault that left 10 people dead.

The 26-count complaint, which includes 10 murder charges, makes Payton Gendron, 18, eligible for a possible death sentence if convicted.

"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 court documents.

At one point during the vicious attack, federal authorities alleged that the gunman aimed his assault-style rifle at a white employee of the Tops Friendly Market but abruptly apologized and turned away to seek out other Black victims.

"Rather than shooting him, Gendron said, 'Sorry,' to the employee,” the documents state.

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Following Gendron's arrest at the scene, authorities seized the rifle used in the attack and found it marked with racial slurs, the names of other mass shooters, and other statements, including "Here's your reparations!"

In a search of Gendron's Conklin, New York, home the day after the shooting, federal investigators recovered a handwritten note in which he allegedly apologized to his family, claiming that he acted "for the future of the white race."

Agents also recovered a receipt from the same Tops store for a candy bar, dated March 8, 2022, and hand-drawn sketches of what appeared to depict the interior layout of the market, signaling that target had been identified and surveilled months earlier.

In the months before the attack, investigators said the gunman allegedly detailed the plot to include the clothes he would wear – helmet and body armor – and weapons he would use to "kill as many blacks as possible."

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The same document indicated that the market was targeted in the specific New York area code of 14208 because it contained the largest percentage of Black people closest to his home.

Gendron, who already faces multiple state charges, allegedly drove about three hours from his home in Conklin, New York, to carry out the May 14 attack.

Ballistics evidence recovered at the scene indicated that Gendron allegedly fired 60 rounds during the attack.

Before formally announcing the charges, Attorney General Merrick Garland and other top Justice officials met victims' families and survivors in Buffalo, one of several communities scarred by mass gun violence in recent weeks.

"No one in this country should have to live in fear that they will go to work or shop at the grocery store, and they will be attacked by someone who hates them because of the color of their skin, someone who commits that act because he subscribes to the vile theory that only people like him belong in this country," the attorney general said.

"And no one in this country should have to bury a loved one because of such hate."

Ten days after the Buffalo attack, a similarly-armed gunman killed 19 young students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

In that case, the gunman, whose motive is not immediately clear, was killed by authorities, but the Justice Department is conducting a separate review of law enforcement's delayed response to confront the 18-year-old shooter.

While the federal action in the Buffalo case carries the possibility of a death sentence, such a penalty is far from assured.

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Less than a year ago, Garland ordered a moratorium on federal executions to allow for a Justice review of death penalty policy.

“The Department of Justice must ensure that everyone in the federal criminal justice system is not only afforded the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States, but is also treated fairly and humanely,” Garland said in a July 2021 memorandum. “That obligation has special force in capital cases.”

Garland's order came after Justice presided over a dramatic revival of federal executions during the prior administration, which featured 13 executions between July 2020 and January 2021.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Buffalo shooting suspect faces federal hate crime charges