Gunman pleads not guilty to terror charge
BUFFALO, N.Y. >> The White gunman who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket pleaded not guilty Thursday to hate-motivated domestic terrorism and other charges. A prosecutor called the evidence against him overwhelming.
A lawyer entered the plea for Payton Gendron, 18, in the first case to make use of New York's domestic terrorism hate crime law. Gendron didn't speak during the brief hearing with a heavy security presence.
Witnesses, police and Gendron's own writings and livestreamed video have incriminated him as the gunman who used an
AR-style semiautomatic rifle May 14 to target shoppers and employees of a Tops Friendly Market, and he surrendered at the crime scene after putting his rifle to his neck. Authorities said he chose the store because of its location in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
“There is overwhelming proof of the defendant's guilt,” Assistant District Attorney John Fereleto said. “The defendant was caught at the scene of the crime with the weapon in his hands.”
He was charged with murder shortly after the attack. On Wednesday, a new indictment expanded the case to include the domestic terrorism charge, along with 10 counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime, criminal possession of a weapon and three counts of attempted murder as a hate crime.
“When you hear the phase `throw the book at' someone, well, in this case right here, the defendant just got `War and Peace,' ” District Attorney John Flynn said at a news conference after the arraignment.