A federal judge on Thursday urged Justice Department lawyers to speed up their decision on whether to demand the death penalty against the gunman in the Buffalo supermarket massacre.
In his first court appearance since being charged with federal hate crime in the May 14 attack, Payton Gandron was given notice that he faced the possibility of death in a case where he is accused of specifically targeting black victims. Friendly market.
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U.S. Magistrate Kenneth Schroeder Jr. said speedy action is needed to give the defense access to expert witnesses and other resources needed in capital cases.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Trippy said the decision on whether to seek maximum fines was “the only decision” by Attorney General Merrick Garland, adding that the discussion would be “serious, thorough” and “as fast as possible.”
During the brief court hearing, Schroeder also agreed to provide court-appointed attorneys, including two with special qualifications in death-related cases, telling the judge that he had only $ 16 in checking and savings accounts.
In a complaint outlining 26 criminal counts, federal authorities insisted that Jendro acted “to prevent blacks from taking the place of whites and to eliminate white people and to incite others to carry out similar attacks.”
At one point during the sinister attack, the gunman allegedly held his assault-style rifle at a white employee of the grocery store but abruptly apologized and walked away to search for other black victims.
Following the arrest of Gandron at the scene, authorities confiscated the rifle used in the attack and, along with racial slurs, the names of other mass shooters and other statements, said, “This is your revenge!”
Months before the attack, investigators said the gunman allegedly outlined the plan of the attack in writing about what clothes he would wear – helmets and armor – and the weapons he would use to “kill as many black people as possible.”
Gendron, who is already facing multiple state charges, allegedly drove about three hours from his home in Conclin, New York, to carry out the attack.
Garland, who met with the families of the victims and survivors in Buffalo on Wednesday before the government announced the case, said the decision on whether to demand the death penalty involves discussions with the victims’ families.
Less than a year ago, Garland ordered a moratorium on the federal death penalty to allow for a judicial review of the death penalty policy.
“The Department of Justice must ensure that everyone in the federal criminal justice system is treated not only with the rights guaranteed by the constitution and law of the United States, but also with fair and humane treatment,” Garland said in a July 2021 memorandum. “It has a special force in cases of liability capital.”