Buffalo grocery store mass shooter sentenced to life for racist attack

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Payton Gendron, the white supremacist who killed 10 innocent Black people at a Buffalo supermarket was sentenced to life without parole Wednesday.

Relatives of victims angry

But before Gendron was sentenced, relatives of his victims confronted him with rage and anguish caused by his racist attack.

Anger briefly turned physical at Gendron’s sentencing when a victim’s family member lunged at him from the audience. The man was quickly restrained. The judge later said he wouldn’t be charged.

The proceeding then continued with an emotional outpouring from people who lost loved ones or were themselves wounded in the senseless attack.

Many of the victims’ family members voiced that they wish for Gendron to be sentenced to life in prison, rather than the death penalty, so the shooter will have to suffer with his thoughts for the rest of his life.

“One day I hope you find it in your heart to apologize to those families,” Wayne Jones, the son of Celestine Chaney, said in court.

“I pray to God they do not kill you,” said Brian Talley, family member of shooting victim Geraldine Talley. “You need to be known worldwide … I forgive you, but I forgive you not for your sake, but for mine and for this Black community.”

Zeneta Everhart, whose son Zaire Goodman was shot and injured, said her son has survivor’s guilt.

“He is dealing with the pain that I as a mother cannot bear,” Everhart said. “On that day this terrorist made the choice that the value of a Black human meant nothing to him … whatever the sentence is that [Gendron] receives, it will never be enough.”

Gendron gives a brief statement

Before sentencing Gendron, whose racist tirade manifested from conspiracy theories he read online, cried and apologized to victims and their families.

“I’m very sorry for all the pain I forced the victims and their families to suffer through. I’m very sorry for stealing the lives of your loved ones. I cannot express how much I regret all the decisions I made leading up to my actions on May 14,” Gendron said in court.

“I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were Black. Looking back now, I can’t believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can’t take it back, but I wish I could, and I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did.”

Buffalo shooter sentenced

Gendron pleaded guilty in November to one count of domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and a weapons possession charge for the mass shooting at Tops Friendly Markets on May 14, 2022.

Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan sentenced Gendron to life in prison on each of the terrorism and murder charges and rebuked him.

“There is no place for you or your ignorant, hateful and evil ideologies in a civilized society,” she said. “There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances. The damage you have caused is too great, and the people you have hurt are too valuable to this community. You will never see the light of day as a free man ever again.”