As previously reported by REVOLT, on May 14, Payton Gendron allegedly killed 10 Black people in a racially-motivated hate crime. The incident happened at a Tops Friendly Markets grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Gendron has since been arrested and faces multiple federal charges which could result in the death penalty.
This afternoon (July 7), he will appear in court for a discovery hearing, according to local Buffalo news station WIVB 4. Today, prosecutors and a defense team will introduce evidence such as posts from social media, medical records, surveillance video, autopsies and other documentation. Legal analyst Chris Pannozzo spoke with the station and said, “This is the most horrific case we’ve probably ever seen in Western New York. And with the advent of social media there are likely going to be a lot of documents. A lot of videos and a lot of information to be exchanged by the parties.”
The suspect reportedly formed a chatroom called “Happening: This is not a drill” on the Discord app and sent links to 15 others before live-streaming the deadly attack. Pannozzo added, “This will paint a clearer picture of the schedule of the case we will be hearing. There could be some evidentiary hearings, there could be some, what we call some ‘motion practice.’ And I think you’ll see a clearer picture of how the case will proceed and when the case could go to trial.”
Following the attack, Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said, “This was pure evil.” He continued by calling it a “straight-up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community.” Gendron allegedly drove over 200 miles from his hometown of Conklin, New York to find an area with the highest concentration of Black people. According to CNN, Attorney General Merrick Garland said The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the shooting “as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism.”