The White teen who opened fire at a Buffalo grocery store and killed 10 Black people in a racist massacre in 2022 was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The sentence was handed down to 19-year-old Payton Gendron after an emotional court hearing that was momentarily disrupted by a man who lunged at the killer before being restrained by court officers, according to ABC News.
“There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances,” Judge Susan Eagan said prior to sentencing, USA Today reports. “You will never see the light of day as a free man ever again.”
The attack took place on May 14, 2022, at the Tops Friendly Markets supermarket on Buffalo’s East Side, where the shooter, an avowed White supremacist, traveled specifically to target Black people. The shooter planned the massacre over several months. He wore tactical gear and a helmet, and live-streamed the shooting via Twitch.
Some of the victims’ family members spoke out during the hearing, including Barbara Massey, whose 72-year-old sister, Katherine Massey, was killed in the attack.
“You come to our city and decide you do not like Black people? Man, you don’t know a damn thing about Black people,” she said, according to The Washington Post. “We’re human. We like our kids to go to a good school. We love our kids. We never go to no neighborhood and take people out.”
“One day I hope you find it in your heart to apologize to those families,” victim Celestine Chaney’s son told the shooter, according to CNN.
The fatal victims of the attack were Roberta A. Drury, 32; Margus D. Morrison, 52; Andre Mackneil, 53; Aaron Salter Jr., 55; Geraldine Talley, 62; Celestine Chaney, 65; Heyward Patterson, 67; Massey; Pearl Young, 77; and Ruth Whitfield, 86.
During the hearing, the shooter said in a statement that he regretted his actions.
“I cannot express how much I regret all the decisions I made leading up to my actions on May 14,” he said, CNN reported. “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 acted out of hate. I know 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.”
The shooter pleaded guilty in November to numerous state charges including multiple counts of first-degree murder.
He is still facing federal hate crime and weapons changes, CBS News reported.
