U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in Buffalo to announce Federal charges against suspect in Buffalo mass shooting that killed 10.
Federal charges are being filed against the 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting 10 people at the Tops store in Buffalo.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York has filed a 26-count criminal complaint against Payton Gendron.
The charges include 10 counts of a hate crime resulting in death, three counts of a hate crime involving bodily injury and attempt to kill, 10 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, and three counts of use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
If convicted of the federal charges of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, the alleged shooter could face the death penalty.
In the criminal complaint, federal officials allege that his motive was to “prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race, and to inspire others to commit similar attacks.”
Previously, the accused shooter was already indicted on 25 other counts.
No one in New York had ever previously been indicted on a charge of domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate in the first degree.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Buffalo on Wednesday to pay respects at the site of the mass shooting on Buffalo’s east side. He and U.S. Attorney Trini Ross met with the families of the victims, as well.
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