An avowed White supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a supermarket last year in Buffalo, New York, was given a life sentence without the chance of parole after a dramatic court proceeding as a distraught family member leapt at the defendant.
Payton Gendron, the 19-year-old gunman, entered a guilty plea to 15 state crimes, including murder and terrorism motivated by hatred. A family member attempted to lunge at the accused on Wednesday before the punishment was given, but was restrained by security.
Emotion-filled statements were shared by other relatives. Barbara Massey, who lost her sister Katherine in the shootout, said to the gunman, ‘You are going to come to our city and decide you don’t like black people. Man, you don’t know a damn thing about black people. We’re human.’
The statement of Massey was interrupted by her own son as he rushed towards the gunman. Outside the court, she told reporters, ‘he saw me emotional and I’m his mom.’
‘We’re close. You hurt one of us, you hurt us all,’ she said.
The gunman wept as Tamika Harper shared memories of her aunt Geraldine Talley who was also murdered.
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