Attorneys for the gunman who killed 10 Black people in a racist attack at a Buffalo supermarket in 2022 have filed for his death penalty-eligible trial to be moved to New York City.
Payton Gendron, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, claims he cannot receive a fair trial in the upstate city. He’s requesting it be moved to Manhattan in order for an impartial jury to be seated.
His lawyers said too many of Buffalo’s Black residents had connections to the shooting. Roughly 85% of the city’s African American population lives in East Buffalo, where the massacre occurred.
Buffalo Supermarket Shooting Mothers
Matt Rourke/AP A police officer lifts the tape cordoning off the scene of the May 2022 shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo.
“If the verdict in this case is to carry any moral authority, it should be delivered by a diverse group of citizens. But, given the history of segregation in Buffalo, that is exceedingly unlikely,” his attorneys wrote in a court filing.
Gendron is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty in November 2022 to state charges, including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. His federal charges include hate crimes and weapons offenses.
Early last year, federal prosecutors announced they intended to seek the death penalty.
According to authorities, Gendron planned the shooting for months, even making multiple “reconnaissance” trips to the store before the massacre on May 14, 2022. Per a criminal complaint, he wanted “to prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race, and to inspire others to commit similar acts.”
In addition to the 10 people who were murdered, three people were also wounded in the shooting.
The change-of-venue request will likely be decided at a hearing later this month. The trial is set to begin in September.
Gendron separately asked to the judge to nix the death penalty as a possible punishment. That motion is still pending.
With News Wire Services
