Shooter (19) confesses to racist murder in American supermarket: store specifically chosen to kill mainly black people | Abroad

Payton Gendron, 18 years old at the time of the May 14 massacre, specifically sought out the supermarket because of the black crowds, according to prosecutors. The store was a three-hour drive from his hometown. At the scene, the young man shot thirteen people with a semi-automatic weapon, eleven of whom had a black skin. Three victims survived. Before his murder, Gendron published a manifesto and informed like-minded people on an internet forum what he was planning.

“He pleaded guilty to all charges against him in the indictment,” Attorney John Flynn said today after the court hearing. He emphasized the racist character of the crimes, which were motivated by an ideology of white supremacy.

During his press moment, the prosecutor also recalled that the young man had prepared his actions very carefully. He also had several semi-automatic weapons in his pocket and a portable camera, with which he filmed the facts in order to spread everything on social media afterwards.

In previous social media posts and a racist, supremacist and conspiratorial manifesto attributed to him, Gendron had written several months before the massacre that he wanted to kill blacks and that he had targeted a poor and isolated neighborhood in Buffalo because of its high percentage of African-Americans. Americans. He had also done a reconnaissance trip for the Buffalo massacre, 180 miles north of his home.

The attack was another shock to the United States, which was shaken ten days later by yet another massacre, this time at a grade school in Uvalde, Texas. 19 children and two teachers lost their lives.

These racist killings, the list of which has grown since then, have reignited the recurring debate about a lack of regulation of firearms in the United States. According to it Gun Violence Archive more than 600 “mass shootings” (with at least four dead or injured) have occurred in the US since the beginning of this year.

Following this legal action, Gendron will likely be sentenced to life in New York prison. But he is also being charged in federal court, where he theoretically faces the death penalty.