White supremacist gets life in prison for Buffalo massacre

BUFFALO, NY (AP) — A white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday after relatives of his victims confronted him with pain and rage caused by his racist attack.

Anger briefly turned physical at Payton Gendron's sentencing when a man in the audience rushed at him. The man was quickly restrained; prosecutors later said he wouldn't be charged. The proceeding then resumed with more emotional outpouring from people who lost loved ones or were themselves wounded in the attack.

Gendron, whose hatred was fuelled by racist conspiracy theories he encountered online, cried during some of the testimony and apologised to victims and their families in a brief statement.

Some angrily condemned him; others quoted from the Bible or said they were praying for him. Several pointed out that he deliberately attacked a Black community far from his nearly all-white hometown.

“You've been brainwashed,” Wayne Jones Sr., the only child of victim Celestine Chaney, said as sobs rose from the audience. “You don't even know Black people that much to hate them. You learned this on the Internet, and it was a big mistake.”

“I hope you find it in your heart to apologise to these people, man. You did wrong for no reason,” Jones said.

Gendron pleaded guilty in November to crimes including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate, a charge that carried an automatic life sentence.

“There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances,” Judge Susan Eagan said as she sentenced him.

Gendron, 19, also faces separate federal charges that could carry a death sentence if the US Justice Department chooses to seek it. His defence attorney said in December that Gendron is prepared to plead guilty in federal court as well to avoid execution. New York state does not have the death penalty.

Gendron wore bullet-resistant armour and a helmet equipped with a livestreaming camera as he carried out the May 14 attack with a semiautomatic rifle he purchased legally but then modified so he could load it with illegal high-capacity ammunition magazines.

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