FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist who killed 10 African-Americans at a Buffalo, New York supermarket, according to court documents filed Friday.
Payton Gendron, 20, is already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole over the 2022 attack. He pleaded guilty to state charges of murder and domestic hate terrorism.
New York does not have the death penalty, but the Department of Justice has the ability to seek it in a special case of federal hate crime charges. Gendron had promised to plead guilty in that case unless prosecutors sought the death penalty.
In the announcement announcing the decision to seek the death penalty, Trini Ross, the US Attorney for Western New York, said that Gendron had chosen the supermarket "to maximize the number of victims among black people."
Relatives of the victims have expressed mixed views on federal prosecutors' decision to seek the death penalty for the attacker.
"I would be more satisfied if I knew he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison, surrounded by the very population he tried to kill," said Mark Talley, his 63-year-old mother. who was killed during the attack.
"I would rather he spend the rest of his life in prison suffering every day," he added.
This is the first time Attorney General Merrick Garland has authorized a death penalty request. Under his leadership, the Justice Department has backed down and not sought the death penalty in more than 20 cases.
The family members of the other victims have not yet made any comments regarding the decision of the prosecutors.
The Justice Department has made federal death penalty cases a rarity since the election of Democratic President Joe Biden, who opposes the death penalty. Mr. Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions in 2021 pending a review of the procedures. However, the moratorium does not prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.
On May 14, 2022, Gendron attacked a supermarket in Buffalo with a semi-automatic rifle. To carry out the attack, he traveled more than 200 miles from his home in Conklin, New York.
Gendron chose the supermarket based on its location, in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, and broadcast the massacre live with a camera mounted on a helmet he wore.
The victims were aged from 32 to 86 years old. Three people were injured, but managed to survive. /VOA
Lini një Përgjigje