The Department of Justice on Wednesday indicted 18-year-old Peyton Gentron on 26 counts of hate crime and firearms off in a mass attack that killed 10 blacks at a Buffalo grocery store last month. Federal charges could make Gendron eligible for the death penalty. The charges were announced as Attorney General Merrick Garland met with dozens of survivors of the May 14 shooting and members of the families of those killed. In an 11-page criminal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court, the FBI chief investigator wrote that the evidence showed that there was a possible reason why Gendron shot the 11 black victims at Tops Friendly Markets because of “their true and perceived race and color.” And shot two white victims while trying to harm the others. Two weeks ago, a major state court indicted Gendron on 25 counts, including domestic terrorism and murder, as a hate crime. Before the flurry, researchers say, Gendron had said and written that he was involved in a racist ideology called the “big replacement” theory. Civil rights defenders praised the Ministry of Justice for speeding up the case. “If there has ever been a case where hate crime charges were appropriate, this was one of them,” said Damon T. Hewitt, chairman and executive director of the Civil Rights Law Commission. “What we see so often is federal prosecutors waiting to see what plays out at the state and local levels. We saw the opposite here with the parallel investigations “. The buffalo murder suspect wrote that he kept plans from the family “for months” Garland, along with several top lawmakers, gathered privately with about 40 locals at the Apollo Media Center in Buffalo to provide a briefing on the Justice Department’s federal civil rights inquiry. He also placed a bouquet of white roses at a memorial for the victims near Tops Market, on the corner of Jefferson Ave and Landon Street. Garland attended the meeting from Trini E. Ross, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York. Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the Civil Rights Division; and Paul Abbate, the FBI Deputy Director. The federal case against Gentron could present a difficult situation for Garland, who has imposed a moratorium on executions in federal cases, while the department is reviewing the death penalty regulations made during the Trump administration. Some civil rights groups have pushed for the Biden government to abolish the death penalty, and Hewitt said he has come under pressure from some supporters to urge Garland not to pursue the death penalty for the Buffalo shooting. He said Garland had not discussed the matter with lawyers in talks over the Buffalo mass shooting investigation. “I heard what they had to say. “It’s very complicated,” Hewitt said. “But the biggest story here is not whether [the Buffalo gunman] accused of a criminal offense or killed – but the fact that he was charged with a hate crime. The mirror was near him. Hate crimes themselves are message crimes. “Prosecution of such people must also send messages.” This is a story that unfolds. He will be informed.
