Jury Selection Begins in Federal Hate Crimes Trial for Buffalo Supermarket Shooter

Jury selection is set to commence Tuesday in the federal hate crimes trial of Payton Gendron, the gunman who killed 10 Black individuals in a racially motivated attack at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York, in May 2022. Gendron faces over two dozen federal hate crime and firearms charges, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty.

This trial marks the first capital case overseen by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who had previously placed a moratorium on federal executions. Gendron has already pleaded guilty to state murder charges and is serving a life sentence, having admitted to the crimes and renounced his white supremacist views during a 2023 state trial. His defense team has stated they will not contest his guilt in the federal trial but will focus on presenting mitigating evidence to spare him from execution.

"Nothing will change the fact that Payton Gendron will die in prison," the federal public defender's office said in a statement. "At trial, we will offer mitigating evidence about Payton that the jury needs to consider in making its decision. Nothing we say or do is intended to be disrespectful or insensitive to the victims, the survivors, or their loved ones."

The attack, believed to be the deadliest hate-motivated shooting by a lone gunman targeting Black people in recent history, has deeply affected the community. Wayne Jones, whose mother Celestine Chaney was among the victims, plans to attend the trial. While he believes Gendron should serve a life sentence of misery, he is not entirely against the death penalty.

"When I was younger, I probably was more prone to say ‘kill him.’ But, at this point, I mean, he’s still got well another 20-30 years of appeals," Jones said.

Zeneta Everhart, whose son survived the shooting, expressed a different view. "Ten people died that day in an egregious way and in an awful, terrible, traumatic way," she said, emphasizing the domestic terrorism aspect of the crime. "This isn’t a shooting over a robbery or a domestic violence situation. This is domestic terrorism. It is important we go after the death penalty in this case. But if he doesn’t end up getting it, I know that justice will be served." Garnell Whitfield, who lost his 86-year-old mother Ruth, stated he trusts the federal government's process but hopes the trial will shed light on the societal factors and online radicalization that contributed to the attack.

The Attack and its Roots

On May 14, 2022, then-18-year-old Gendron traveled over 200 miles from his Conklin, New York, home to Buffalo. Armed with a semiautomatic rifle, he opened fire in the Tops Friendly Market, killing 10 Black shoppers and employees and wounding others. Investigators found evidence that Gendron had planned the attack to terrorize non-white and non-Christian populations and promoted the baseless "great replacement theory."

The victims who lost their lives were Geraldine Talley, Katherine Massey, Pearl Young, Andre Mackneil, Heyward Patterson, Ruth Whitfield, Roberta Drury, Margus Morrison, Aaron Salter (a retired police officer working security), and Celestine Chaney.

A Pattern of Anti-Black Violence

The Buffalo shooting highlights a persistent issue of anti-Black violence in the United States. Hate crime statistics consistently show Black people as the primary numerical target. According to FBI data, law enforcement agencies reported over 2,800 anti-Black hate crime incidents in 2025. Experts note that Gendron's actions align with a pattern of targeted massacres carried out by young, often white males who justify their violence through manifestos referencing past attacks and encouraging future ones.

"Unfortunately, he (Gendron) fits the pattern of young, mostly white males undertaking targeted massacres which are then justified by manifestos, which are also part of a continuing chain that references prior attacks often but seeks to encourage future ones," said hate crime analyst Brian Levin.

The Justice Department's decision to pursue the death penalty reflects the severity of the crime and its classification as domestic terrorism, amplified by online radicalization that mirrors incidents like the 2015 Charleston church shooting.