US judge seeks clarity on Buffalo shooter death penalty
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A US court orders the Biden administration to decide fast whether to pursue the death penalty for the teenager who shot dead 10 African Americans at a store in May, saying that doing so would cost taxpayers more money.
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Payton S. Gendron pleaded not guilty to a 25-count indictment returned against him in New York.
A US court ordered the Biden administration on Thursday to decide fast whether to pursue the death penalty for the teenager who shot dead 10 African Americans at a store in May, saying that doing so would cost taxpayers more money.
Authorities declared federal hate crimes against Payton Gendron, 18, earlier this week, saying he was motivated by racist hatred when, on May 14, he carried a semi-automatic assault rifle to a grocery store in Buffalo's mostly Black area and opened fire.
Read more: A gun is worth a thousand Nazi words
In his initial appearance in federal court in Buffalo on Thursday, Gendron stated that he was unemployed, had just $16 in his bank account, and requested legal help.
Judge Kenneth Schroeder agreed to allow Gendron a public lawyer but pushed prosecutors to make a swift decision on whether to pursue the death sentence for the suspect, claiming that such processes would cost taxpayers more money.
According to Schroeder, "The possibility of a death penalty obviously has a greater burden in the defense of the defendant."
Prosecutors said a decision on Gendron's sentencing will be made after a comprehensive review of the evidence.
Democratic President Joe Biden campaigned on a commitment to fight the federal capital sentence, and his top prosecutor ordered a pause on federal executions awaiting an investigation of the procedure.
Gendron is also charged with domestic terrorism and ten counts of first-degree murder in the state of New York, which abolished the death penalty in 2004.
After two mass shootings in the past month, which have left families broken and devastated, thousands of people are expected to protest the current status of gun laws in the US, demanding tighter laws.
A shooting at an elementary school in Texas killed 19 children and 2 teachers and another one at a supermarket in New York killed 10 Black citizens were the main 2 recent events that sparked the call for protests, planned at hundreds of locations across the country.
This year, gun violence has claimed the violence of more than 19,300 people in the United States according to the Gun Violence Archive.
