Buffalo massacre perpetrator to be sentenced to life

BUFFALO, NY (AP) — The white supremacist who killed 10 black people in a Buffalo supermarket after reading conspiracy theories online will be sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.

Payton Gendron is due to appear in Erie County Court this morning, where he pleaded guilty in November to charges of murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism. The terrorism charge carries an automatic life sentence.

Several relatives of victims are expected at the hearing, which will give them the opportunity to speak to the judge and to the murderer responsible for their grief.

Gendron, now 19, donned a bulletproof vest and camera helmet to broadcast live on the internet when he carried out the May 14 massacre last year. He used a semi-automatic rifle, purchased legally, but modified with a high-capacity magazine that is illegal in New York State.

There were only three survivors among the 13 people he shot, in a premeditated attempt to kill black people.

Among the victims of the Tops Friendly Market supermarket were a church dean, the supermarket security guard, a neighborhood activist, a man who was going to buy a birthday cake, a grandmother and the mother of a former Buffalo Fire Chief. Their ages ranged from 32 to 86 years old.