Substitute while the actions of the article are loading
The Justice Department on Wednesday charged 18-year-old Peyton Hendron with 26 hate crimes and a firearm crime in a mass shooting that killed 10 blacks at a Buffalo grocery store last month. Federal charges could make Hendron eligible for the death penalty.
The charges were announced when Attorney General Merrick Garland met with dozens of survivors of the May 14 shooting and family members of those killed.
In an 11-page criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court, a leading FBI investigator said the evidence showed there was a possible reason Hendron shot the 11 black victims of Tops Friendly Markets because of “their actual and alleged race and color.” “And shot two white victims while trying to injure the others.
Two weeks ago, a state grand jury charged Hendron with 25 charges in the state, including domestic terrorism and murder as a hate crime. Prior to the riot, investigators say Hendron said he had joined a racist ideology called the “Great Replacement” theory.
Defenders of civil rights praised the Ministry of Justice for moving quickly in the case.
“If there was ever a case where hate crimes charges were appropriate, it was this one,” said Damon T. Hewitt, president and executive director of the Civil Rights Bar Association. “What we see so often are federal prosecutors waiting to see what is happening at the state and local levels. We have seen the opposite here with parallel investigations. “
Buffalo shooting suspect writes he has kept family plans “for months”
Garland, along with several senior lawmakers, gathered in private with about 40 locals at the Apollo Media Center in Buffalo to provide up-to-date information on the Federal Ministry of Justice’s investigation into civil rights. He also placed a bouquet of white roses at the Victims Memorial near Tops Market, on the corner of Jefferson Ave and Landon Street.
Garland joined the meeting from Trini E. Ross, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York; Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta; Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark, who heads the Civil Rights Division; and Paul Abbott, deputy director of the FBI.
The federal case against Gendron could be a difficult situation for Garland, who imposed a moratorium on executions in federal cases as the department reconsiders the death penalty made during the Trump administration.
Some civil rights groups are pressuring the Biden administration to abolish the death penalty, and Hewitt has said he has been pressured by some advocates to call on Garland not to pursue the death penalty in the Buffalo shooting.
He said Garland had not discussed the issue with lawyers in talks on the Buffalo mass shooting investigation.
“I heard what they had to say. It’s very complicated, “Hewitt said. “But the bigger story here is not [the Buffalo gunman] has been charged with a death penalty or sentenced to death – but the fact that he has been charged with a hate crime. The mirror was brought to him. Hate crimes themselves are crimes with messages. The prosecutor’s office must also send such messages. “
This is an evolving story. It will be updated.
Add Comment