Jury selection to begin in federal hate crimes trial over deadly Buffalo supermarket shooting

For Wayne Jones, discussing the horrific supermarket shooting in Buffalo, NY, in which a white supremacist killed 10 people, including his mother, Celestine Chaney, has taken over much of his life these past four years.He can numbly list talking points for media and gun violence panels.But thinking about her absence each day is one reason why Jones would not want to see the shooter sentenced to death.“I really think that he should just sit and have to think about it year after year after year and just be miserable,” said Jones, who plans to attend the trial.

“When I was younger, I probably was more prone to say ‘kill him.’ But, at this point, I mean, he’s still got well another 20-30 years of appeals.”Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the federal trial in which Payton Gendron faces a potential death penalty.The attack at the Tops Friendly Market in 2022 is believed to be the deadliest hate-motivated shooting targeting Black people by a lone gunman in the last century.Gendron is facing over two dozen federal hate crime charges and more than a dozen firearms charges.

He is already spending life in prison after pleading guilty to state murder charges in a 2023 trial where he tearfully admitted to the crimes and renounced his past views.His defense team is not going to dispute his guilt.Their sole objective is to ensure Gendron is spared from execution.“Nothing will change the fact that Payton Gendron will die in prison,” the federal public defender’s office said in a statement.

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“At trial, we will offer mitigating evidence about Payton that the jury needs to consider in making its decision.Nothing we say or do is intended to be disrespectful or insensitive to the victims, the survivors, or their love...