Buffalo Shooter Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole

Facts

• 19-year-old gunman Payton Gendron, who pleaded guilty to killing 10 Black people in a racially motivated shooting in May 2022, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole during a court hearing on Wednesday.¹
• Gendron’s sentencing was briefly interrupted when an unidentified man rushed toward him before being restrained by courtroom officers. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn instructed court officers not to press charges against the man.²
• Family members of victims gave testimonies in which some angrily condemned Gendron, while others said they were praying for him. Gendron cried during parts of the testimony and apologized to his victims and their families.³
• The gunman received New York's first charge of terrorism motivated by hate and faces over 20 federal counts of various hate crimes and murder charges.⁴
• Gendron pleaded guilty in November to one count of a domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate and 10 counts of first-degree murder, among others. He has pleaded not guilty to federal charges but his attorneys said that he would be willing to do so if prosecutors removed the death penalty as punishment.⁴
• On May 14, 2022, Gendron allegedly traveled 200 miles to a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo where he carried out a mass shooting at a Tops grocery store. Prosecutors say Gendron’s written documents posted online show a white supremacist plot to commit the massacre.⁵

Sources: ¹NBC, ²FOX News, ³Associated Press, ⁴CNN and ⁵CBS.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Rolling stone. Payton Gendron’s brutal and vile attack that killed 10 people is the direct result of the racist and xenophobic rhetoric espoused by right-wing talking heads. In the years since Donald Trump’s presidency, we’ve seen growing incidents of white supremacist attacks motivated by conspiracy theories peddled by prominent far-right figures.
• Republican narrative, as provided by American greatness. During a time of national tragedy, Democrats and others in the liberal media are trying to pin the tragedy on their political opponents. Not only is it vile to exploit a national tragedy like this, but it is also factually incorrect, as the shooter’s manifesto rejected conservatism and its ideas.