The White gunman charged with killing ten Black people in a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal hate crime charges that could result in the death penalty.
Payton Gendron was indicted on hate crimes and weapons charges last week.
Per CBS News, the defendant’s attorney entered the plea in court, saying she hoped to settle the case before trial. During the brief arraignment, the defendant remained silent while wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackles.
The 27-count federal indictment contains special findings including that the defendant engaged in considerable planning to perpetrate an act of terrorism and targeted vulnerable older people, particularly 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, 77-year-old Pearl Young, 72-year-old Katherine Massey, 67-year-old Heyward Patterson, and 65-year-old Celestine Chaney
Merrick Garland, the Attorney General who halted federal executions last year, has not ruled out seeking the death penalty against the defendant. Last month, Garland visited the scene of the massacre and met with the victims’ families.
The Justice Department stated that a decision on whether to seek the death penalty against the defendant, who turned 19 in June, would be made later.
Authorities said the defendant, who live-streamed the May 14 attack, was apprehended just outside the Tops Friendly Supermarket’s entrance after donning body armor and opening fire on weekend shoppers and employees in the parking lot and inside. Three people were injured.
“We all know he’s guilty. We saw what he did,” Zeneta Everhart said after the court proceeding. Her son, Zaire Goodman, was wounded in the attack. “The world saw what he did. He posted what he did.”
The store reopened to the public last week, just two months after the mass shooting incident.
The federal indictment charges the defendant with ten counts of hate crimes resulting in death, three counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill three people, and another hate crime count claiming he attempted to kill other Black people in and around the store. There are also 13 counts of using a firearm in a hate crime.
In addition, the defendant is facing a parallel state prosecution for charges which include, hate-motivated domestic terrorism, murder, and attempted murder as a hate crime. The domestic terrorism hate crime charge carries an automatic life sentence. He has also pleaded not guilty to those charges.