The 19-year-old neo-Nazi who shot and killed 10 people in a racist massacre in Buffalo, New York, last year, was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday.
Prior to the sentencing, the shooter had to be escorted from the courtroom after a man lunged at him.
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“You don’t know what we’re going through,” the man yelled as he was escorted out of the courtroom after being restrained by bailiffs.
The moment came as victims and those who survived the shooter’s rampage were presenting their victim statements. The shooter, Peyton Gendron, sat silently in an orange prison outfit and glasses as he heard the words of those he hurt. Prison guard surrounded him.
“The fact that you can sit in this courtroom with no remorse, a flat affect, emotionless shows the essence of your privilege, sir,” Michelle Spite, who lost her cousin and aunt in the shooting, said while reading a letter written by Margus Morrison. “One that my brother never had and never will. The fact that you were surrounded by white officers while you casually surrendered while my brother’s blood drained from his body shows we have a long way to go.”
“Some people’s blood is just not as important as others, thus you lived,” she added.
The family members of Roberta Drury, 32; Andre Mackneil, 53 Aaron Salter, 55; Geraldine Talley, 62; Celestine Chaney, 65; Heyward Patterson, 67; Katherine Massey, 72; Pearl Young, 77; and Ruth Whitfield, 86, also expressed the pain they’ve experienced since the shooting.
On May 14, the shooter drove to a Topps grocery store in Buffalo after writing in a racist screed posted online that he wanted to target areas with more Black people than white. Then, he livestreamed his attack. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder and a single count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. He’s facing separate federal charges as well, which carry the possibility of the death penalty.
“I am very sorry for stealing the lives of your loved ones. I cannot express how much I regret all the decisions leading up to my actions on May 14,” the shooter said in court Wednesday. “I did a terrible thing that day, I shot and killed people because they were Black.”
“Looking back now I can’t believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online, and I acted out of hate. I can’t take it back, but I wish I could, and I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did.”
After he sat down, the cries of the victims’ families could be heard reverberating through the courtroom.
“You don’t mean none of that shit,” a family member yelled. “Get the fuck out of here.”
In his screed, the shooter wrote how he was radicalized to neo-Nazism by online communities and videos—a British teen was just sentenced to 11 years for his video’s role in pushing the American man towards violence. The shooter also outlined his training and preparation to livestream the event much like other racist mass murderers who came before him.
The attack was just one of numerous mass shootings conducted by neo-Nazis over the past several years and motivated by the so-called “great replacement theory,” a racist idea that the white majority in western countries is being replaced.
Justin Caldwell, the shooter’s lawyer, addressed the families in an emotional testimony in which he agreed to hand over the information collected in the trial by law enforcement to the families.
“The racist hate that motivated this crime was spread through online platforms and the violence that was made possible was in part due to easy access to assault weapons. Still our client is responsible for his actions. He will spend the rest of his life locked away and eventually he will die in prison. “
“We hope that knowing he will never be free again will offer a small bit of comfort to those he hurt so much.”
When handing down the sentence, Judge Susan Eagan gave a speech about how proud she was of the response Buffalo had in the face of the “heinous and cruel act.” In her speech Eagan touched upon the underlying racism that courses through the United States.
“There is no place for you or your ignorant and evil ideologies in a civilized society, there can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances, the damage you have caused is too great and the people you have hurt are too valuable to this community,” said Eagan. “You will never see the light of day as a free man ever again.”
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