U.S. News
Judge urges DOJ to decide if it seeks death penalty for Buffalo shooting suspect
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- A federal judge is urging the Department of Justice to decide whether it seeks the death penalty for the Buffalo mass shooting suspect.
- The 18-year-old suspect, who is facing federal hate crime charges, is eligible for the death penalty.
- The gunman wrote in his diary that the attack is necessary “to prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race.”
A federal judge urged the Department of JusticeThursday to decide whether it seeks the death penalty for the Buffalo supermarket shooting suspect who killed 10 black people last month.
A hearing was held in US District Court, where the 18-year-old suspect was appointed a public defender after revealing he had no money to hire a private lawyer. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Schroeder made the plea to the DOJ during the brief hearing.
Payton Gendron kept his head down while Schroeder was reading out the charges against him. The judge assigned him a taxpayer-funded lawyer after saying he hadn’t been employed for a year and only had $16 in his bank account.
Schroeder implored the prosecutors to quickly decide on the death penalty, noting the “substantial” cost of defending such cases. This type of case typically requires testimony from psychiatrists and medical examiners.
“This case has now been around for a month. I would hope the Department of Justice would undertake steps that would reasonably bring about” a decision on the matter, Schroeder said.
According to federal prosecutor Joseph Tripi, they can decide on the death penalty only after an indictment against the suspect is returned. He added that, even then, it’ll be Attorney General Merrick Garland’s “sole decision.”
Garland has not yet ruled out the death penalty sentence. He met with the families of the victims on Wednesday.
Gendron went to the Tops Friendly Supermarket in Buffalo, New York on May 14 with the intention to “kill as many Blacks as possible.” Prosecutors said the suspect kept a diary where he detailed his plans. He wrote the attack was necessary to prevent black people from eliminating the white race.
Gendron is now facing several counts of federal hate crime charges, making him eligible for the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty in state court. His lawyer in the case refused to comment.
Source: New York Post
peter cherry
June 19, 2022 at 9:59 pm
Where and how did a 18 yr old boy get over $9,000 dollars (approximate cost of weapons and bullets/magazines) to purchase two “AR-15” type guns, a pistol . and about $3,000 worth of ammunition. who paid for it .??? he didnt earn the money to pay for it..!!
CharlieSeattle
June 20, 2022 at 6:41 pm
The FBI grooms shooters with the very best!
Timbuktu58
June 20, 2022 at 2:47 am
Is DOJ seeking the Death Penalty in the case of the Black Man who mowed down several white revelers in a Christmas Parade in Wisconsin?
If not, why is that not classified as a hate crime, just because the color of the races are reversed. Good old Merrick has some explaining to do in both cases.
Just think, as partisan and favoring the law breakers aptitude Merrick has shown, dread the possibility of him having been on the Supreme Court.