A courtroom in Buffalo, New York witnessed a shocking incident during the sentencing hearing of a gunman convicted of killing ten people at a grocery store. A family member of one of the victims suddenly lunged at the defendant, Payton Gendron, and had to be restrained by a swarm of police officers.
According to reports, Gendron, who was 18 years old at the time of the shooting, had posted a 180-page rant online prior to the incident, which contained racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. He had traveled to Buffalo to target the heavily Black neighborhood. In the shooting, ten people were killed and three others were wounded. Gendron was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder and other charges, facing a sentence of up to life in prison without parole.
Last November, Gendron pled guilty to the charges against him, including one count of domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, and a weapons possession charge.
During the hearing, Barbara Massey, the sister of one of the victims, Katherine Massey, gave an emotional victim impact statement. She described her sister as a “great person” who never hurt anyone. She condemned Gendron’s actions and his racist beliefs, saying, “You don’t come to our city and decide you don’t like Black people – man, you don’t know a damn thing about Black people. We are human. We like our kids to go to good schools. We love our kids. We never go in no neighborhoods and take people out.”
As Massey spoke, a man wearing a gray sweatsuit stood behind her and suddenly lunged forward towards Gendron, who was sitting with his attorneys at the defense table. Police quickly intervened and swarmed around the man, blocking him from moving forward. Gendron was escorted out of the courtroom as the situation was brought under control.
It is not yet known who the man was, but multiple media reports described him as a family member of one of the victims of the shooting. The incident has further highlighted the pain and trauma caused by the shooting and the long road to healing for the families of the victims.
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5 Responses
Really Weird, seems like the officers knew this was coming (doesnt necesserilly mean anything nefarious, could simply be they sensed it from body language, gazing etc.). See how while that woman is saying her piece, suddenly 2 officers reposition themselves?
Another interesting thing is, while of course the process of law must be maintained, the officers who are escorting the filthy murderer out seem very concerned for his safety, like, to into it maybe?
I guess it can also just be determined focus to carry out their objective. but its a little weird….
someone should take that white guy in the orange jumpsuit out; shoot him in the head or something…
NY state is immoral for not having the death penalty
“someone should take that white guy in the orange jumpsuit out; shoot him in the head or something”
We do that for squirrels, not for human beings, no matter how vile their crime.
@gadolhadorah
Really? And what is the moral argument for that?
I’m not advocating it, but you state plainly that its out of the question.
I would beg to differ actually.
I think there are quite a number of offenses that deserve the offender be “taken out and shot in the head”.
Murdering a few innocent people is actually one of the case contending for that sort of justice.
As an aside, I find it quite interesting that you have harsh words (we do that for squirrels…) for a commenter who expresses justified, if not misguided, outrage at a mass murderer, while you defend the “dignity” and “humanity” of same. Stinks should come from squirrels, not “Gadolhadors”.