As the Buffalo Tops that was the scene of an horrific mass shooting prepares to reopen Friday, suspect Payton Gendron has been indicted on 27 federal hate crime and weapon violation charges.
The 19 year old Broome County man used a Bushmaster XM rifle to kill 10 African-American people at the Tops on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, and injure three others. He’s accused of traveling more than 200 miles from his home to target black people.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the Justice Department “fully recognizes the threat that white supremacist violence poses to the safety of the American people and American democracy.”
If convicted, Gendron faces life in prison or possibly the death penalty. That’s still being debated.