Buffalo white supremacist supermarket shooter Payton Gendron heckled by victims’ families in court

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An 18 year-old white supremacist accused of murdering 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket stood silently in court Thursday after being indicted by a grand jury on a single count of first-degree murder.

Payton Gendron, who also faces federal terror charges, appeared in court wearing a white mask and bright orange jail scrubs, remained silent throughout the proceeding despite being heckled by a victim’s distraught family member who yelled out, ‘Payton, you’re a coward!’

The first-degree murder indictment, which covers all 10 deaths, was handed up Wednesday, Assistant district attorney Gary Hackbush announced in court. 

In New York, prosecutors can charge a defendant with first-degree murder only under special circumstances, including when multiple people are killed in a single incident, like in the Buffalo shooting that claimed the lives of 10 people on Saturday. The single count against Gendron covers all 10 deaths at Tops Friendly Market.

No domestic terror charges have been filed in federal court at this time. Gendron will be back in court on June 9 at 9:30 a.m. He is being held without bail. 

The courtroom remained quiet until the end as Gendron, cuffed and shackled was escorted out by a heavy security detail, only the sounds of his chains clinking, when one of the victims’ family members yelled out angrily at him from the courtroom gallery. 

Thirteen people were struck by gunfire at the supermarket on Saturday, most of them black, and 10 of the victims died, before the gunman surrendered to police confronting him inside the store. 

Shortly before the attack, Gendron posted hundreds of pages of writings to online discussion groups where he detailed his plans for the assault and his racist motivations. 

Erie County District Attorney John Flynn released a full statement Thursday:  

‘The felony hearing scheduled to occur this morning before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig D. Hannah has been adjourned pursuant to New York State Criminal Procedure Law Article 180.80 due to action of the Grand Jury. 

The matter is scheduled to return for further proceedings on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Hannah. The defendant continues to remain held without bail. There will be no further comment from our office until there is a report following an investigation by the Grand Jury. As are all persons accused of a crime, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.’

In New York, prosecutors can charge a defendant with first-degree murder only under special circumstances, including when multiple people are killed in a single incident, like in the Buffalo shooting. The single count against Gendron covers all 10 deaths at the supermarket.

Following the attack, Gendron posted hundreds of pages of writings to online discussion groups where he detailed his plans for the assault, doubled down on his racist beliefs, and posted photos of him in a hazmat suit at school.

Investigators have been examining documents, which included a private diary he kept on the chat platform Discord.

The massacre at the Tops supermarket was unsettling even in a nation that has become almost numb to mass shootings. Gendron’s online writings said he planned the assault after becoming infatuated with white supremacist ideology he encountered online.

The diary said Gendron planned his attack in secret, with no outside help, but Discord confirmed Wednesday that an invitation to access his private writings was sent to a small group of people about 30 minutes before the assault began.

Some of them accepted the invitation. It was unclear how many read what he had written or logged on to view the assault live. It also wasn’t clear whether anyone tried to alert law enforcement.

Dr. Rajan Basra, a researcher at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) told Dailymail.com that a manifesto he posted online was meant to be his ‘grand’ public statement, but said ‘it’s unoriginal: much of it is plagiarized from earlier attackers’ manifestos, and it features the typical racist memes found on extremist forums.’

‘But it’s his diary that stands out as it gives us a look at the person behind that public image,’ he said.

Entries from the diary that was provided to DailyMail.com included hand-drawn maps of the Tops Friendly Market, where the attack took place, a map of Rochester and a photo of Gendron wearing a hazmat suit while at school.

Gendron reportedly had initially scouted out Rochester for the shooting but decided on Buffalo when he discovered it had a larger population of black residents.

This is the second time Gendron has appeared in court following the shooting that left 10 people dead and several injured. 

At his initial court appearance last week, Gendron’s court-appointed lawyer entered a plea of ‘not guilty’ on his behalf. 

Wearing a paper outfit and mask, the teen spoke Saturday only to confirm he understood the charge against him. His lawyer said he’d be pleading not guilty, despite Gendron publishing a manifesto and diary outlining his plans, and admitting they were racially-motivated.

Gendron’s online writings said he planned the assault after becoming infatuated with white supremacist ideology he encountered online. Investigators have been poring over that manifesto and other evidence since.  

Thirteen people were struck by gunfire, most of them black, and 10 of the victims died, before the gunman surrendered to police confronting him inside the grocery store.

The FBI immediately said it was investigating the rampage as a hate crime and an act of ‘racially motivated violent extremism,’ and authorities have pointed to a white supremacist manifesto he is suspected of posting online before the shooting.

Late Wednesday, the House passed legislation that would bolster federal resources to prevent domestic terrorism in response to the racist mass shooting in Buffalo.

Gendron, from the small southern New York town of Conklin, near the Pennsylvania border, was scheduled to appear for a second Erie County court proceeding – referred to as a felony hearing – on Thursday morning.

It was not clear whether he would immediately face additional state charges. First-degree murder in New York state carries a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.

The House passed legislation late Wednesday night that would bolster federal resources to prevent domestic terrorism in response to the racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.

The 222-203, nearly party-line vote was an answer to the growing pressure Congress faces to address gun violence and white supremacist attacks – a crisis that escalated following two mass shootings over the weekend. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a member of the congressional committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol, was the lone Republican to vote in favor of the measure.

But the legislative effort by Democrats is not new. The House passed a similar measure in 2020 only to have it languish in the Senate. And since lawmakers lack the support in the Senate to move forward with any sort of gun-control legislation they see as necessary to stop mass shootings, Democrats are instead putting their efforts into a broader federal focus on domestic terrorism.

‘We in Congress can´t stop the likes of (Fox News host) Tucker Carlson from spewing hateful, dangerous replacement theory ideology across the airwaves. Congress hasn’t been able to ban the sale of assault weapons. The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act is what Congress can do this week to try to prevent future Buffalo shootings,’ Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., who first introduced the measure in 2017, said on the House floor.

Replacement theory is a racist ideology that alleges white people and their influence are being intentionally ‘replaced’ by people of color through immigration and higher birth rates. It’s being investigated as a motivating factor in Saturday’s supermarket shooting that killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York, all of them black. 

Under current law, the three federal agencies already work to investigate, prevent and prosecute acts of domestic terrorism. But the bill would require each agency to open offices specifically dedicated to those tasks and create an interagency task force to combat the infiltration of white supremacy in the military.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would cost about $105 million over five years, with most of the money going toward hiring staff.

Senate Democrats are pledging to bring up the bill for a vote next week. But its prospects are uncertain, with Republicans opposed to bolstering the power of the Justice Department in domestic surveillance.

For decades, terrorism has been consistently tied with attacks from foreign actors, but as homegrown terrorism, often perpetrated by white men, has flourished over the past two decades, Democratic lawmakers have sought to clarify it in federal statute.

President Joe Biden, in a visit to Buffalo on Tuesday, condemned white nationalists, as well as online platforms, media outlets and political rhetoric he criticized for spreading racist conspiracy theories.

‘What happened here is simple and straightforward – terrorism, terrorism, domestic terrorism,’ Biden said.

New York state Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday opened an investigation into several social media platforms she said the Buffalo grocery store gunman used to plan, promote and broadcast the attack.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced additional measures aimed at curbing domestic terrorism, including legislation to tighten New York gun laws and a directive for state police to exercise their authority to disarm individuals deemed a public threat under the state’s red-flag law.

She accused social media sites of allowing violent extremism to flourish, and said the Buffalo shooting reflected an intersection between ‘the mainstreaming of hate speech … and the easy access to military-style weapons.’

Gendron is accused of having webcast video of the attack he was committing in real time onto Twitch, a live video platform owned by Amazon.com.

While Twitch said it took down the video within two minutes, screenshots from the broadcast circulated on social media through the day. And footage of the livestream could still be found on the internet as recently as Wednesday morning.

Authorities said the suspect also is believed to have posted a lengthy racist screed online outlining the ‘great replacement theory’ – the idea that minorities are replacing white people in the United States and other countries – as well as a check list and journal of his attack preparations.

Buffalo police said Gendron first came to the attention of local law enforcement nearly a year before the Buffalo shooting, when police detained him after he made a threat at his high school, and that he was released after a mental health exam.

Hochul said the murder weapon was purchased legally, but modified with a high-capacity magazine that is outlawed in New York. 

In total, Gendron allegedly killed 10 people and injured three others in the attack before he was taken down by police officers.

Among those who were killed was security guard Aaron Salter – a retired Buffalo police officer – who fired multiple shots at Gendron. A bullet hit the gunman’s armor, but had no effect. Gendron then killed Salter, before hunting more victims.

President Joe Biden on Monday paid tribute to the fallen security guard as he honored 15 public safety officers, including two officers who died in the line of duty, during a ceremony in the East Room.

‘He gave his life when a gunman shot and killed 10 innocent people in a grocery store in Buffalo on Saturday. He was actually able to shoot the assailant twice but he had on a bulletproof vest. He lost his life in the process,’ Biden said at the Medal of Valor event at the White House.

The Medal of Valor is awarded to public safety officers who have exhibited exceptional courage, regardless of personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect others from harm.

‘No one understands more than all of you here today the pain and anguish all the families in Buffalo feel,’ Biden said.

‘You are part of a special community because fire fighters and police officers will always be there for you,’ he said. ‘I want to say a special thanks to you all for being here because I know it’s hard.’

Several of the other victims of Saturday’s brutal shooting were just everyday residents doing their shopping, including Ruth Whitfield, an 86-year-old grandmother, who is also the mother of former Buffalo fire commissioner Garnell Whitfield, was killed while shopping for groceries.

She had just visited her husband in a nursing home and decided to stop at the Tops on her way home to get something to eat, WGRZ reported.

Geraldine Talley, 62, had also stopped by the grocery store to pick up food for dinner, People reports and had asked her fiancée to go to another aisle to retrieve something off one of the shelves when the gunfire started.

The two were soon separated, and Talley died in the gunfire.

She is a mother of two children – Genicia Talley, 42, and Mark Talley, 32, and was also like a second mother to her niece, Kesha Chapman.

Talley is now remembered for her mouth-watering cheesecake, People reports.

‘She was truly an amazing woman, and I’m going to miss her dearly,’ Chapman-Johnson said told ABC News.

Katherine Massey, 72, was also at the supermarket on Saturday to do her grocery shopping when she was fatally shot. Her brother was supposed to pick her up after she finished her errands.

Massey was a civil rights and education advocate. Former Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant, who had known Massey for over 20 years, told The Buffalo News that she ‘did everything she could to lift up Buffalo’s black community.’

Last year, Massey wrote a letter calling for more federal regulation of firearms, citing both urban street violence and mass shootings.

Pearly Young, 77, who fed needy residents in Buffalo’s Central Park neighborhood for 25 years, was another victim who was shot and killed during the massacre, 11Alive reporter Madison Carter tweeted.

Young, originally of Alabama, moved to New York as a young adult and married a pastor.

She had gone to lunch with her sister-in-law on Saturday and was dropped off at the grocer afterwards. Her son was expected to pick her up, but when he arrived at the store, the scene was in total chaos.

Her relatives told Alabama.com Young will be remembered for her love for God and her family.

Celestine Chaney, 65, who was at the supermarket to buy strawberries for shortcake, was killed during the shooting, her son, Wayne Jones, 48, confirmed.

She was also picking up some shrimp her husband, Raymond.

The loving mother and grandmother-of-six was at the supermarket with her older sister, JoAnn Daniels.

Daniels told The Buffalo Times she never saw Gendron, but heard the sounds of his assault rifle.

She and Chaney were trying to flee when the 65-year-old was shot.

‘She fell and I thought she had got up and was behind me, but she wasn’t behind me,’ Daniels recalled.

Roberta Drury, 32, was at the store to buy groceries for dinner when she was fatally shot, her sister Amanda Drury, 34, said.

She had moved to Buffalo from the Syracuse, New York, area to be with her older brother after his bone marrow transplant, her sister, Amanda Drury, told Reuters.

Drury helped him with his bar, The Dalmatia, and with his family.

‘She was vibrant and outgoing, could talk to anyone,’ Amanda said.

Andre Mackniel, 53, who also went by Andre Elliot, was in town visiting relatives.

He was at the store on Saturday to pick up a surprise birthday cake for his grandson, USA Today reports.

But ‘he never came out with the cake,’ his cousin Clarissa Alston-McCutcheon said, describing her cousin as a ‘loving and caring guy’ who ‘loved family’ and ‘was always there for his family.

Heyward Patterson, who would often give people rides to and from the supermarket and help them carry their groceries, was also among the 10 people fatally shot, according to Patterson’s great niece Teniqua Clark.

He earned the nickname ‘Jitney’ because of his help at the grocer.

He was also a church deacon and would welcome parishioners and escort them to their seats.

‘He would give the shirt off his back,’ his wife, Tirzah Patterson, told The Buffalo News. ‘That’s who he is. He wouldn’t hurt anybody. Whatever he had, he’d give it to you.’

And Margus Morrison, 52, was a father of three who was an active bus aide for Buffalo schools since February 2019, USA Today reports.

His family later confirmed he was killed in the deadly shooting.