A white supremacist who killed ten black people in a supermarket in Buffalo, in the US state of New York, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole, after being confronted by relatives of the victims of the racist attack.
In a sentence marked by emotional outpourings from people whose family members were killed or injured in the attack, Payton Gendron, whose hatred was fueled by racist conspiracy theories she found online, wept during some of the testimony and apologized to the victims and their families. in a short statement.
Some of the victims’ relatives angrily condemned the attack, while others quoted the Bible or said they were praying for him. Several emphasized that Gendron deliberately targeted a black community far from his largely white hometown.
“He’s been brainwashed,” said Wayne Jones, the only son of the victim Celestine Chaney, as he walked before a moved audience, many in tears.
“You don’t even know black people well enough to hate them. You learned it from the internet and it was a big mistake,” he added.
Gendron pleaded guilty in November to crimes including murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism, a charge that carried an automatic life sentence.
“There can be no mercy, no understanding, no second chances,” Judge Susan Eagan said in sentencing him.
Gendron, 19, also faces separate federal charges that could carry a death sentence if the US Department of Justice chooses that path. The defense attorney said in December that Gendron is prepared to plead guilty in federal court, also to avoid execution.
In documents posted online before the semi-automatic weapons attack, Gendron said he hoped his action would help preserve white power in the United States.
The young man also wrote that he chose Tops supermarket, about a three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York, because it was in a black neighborhood.
Source: TSF
