Buffalo Supermarket Shooter Who Targeted Black People Wants Federal Charges Dropped Because Jury Was Too White
On Aug. 14, Lawyers for Payton Gendron argued that the federal charges against their client should be dropped because there were not enough Black people or other minority groups on the jury that convicted him, arguing that the white supremacist’s constitutional rights were violated as a result.
According to NBC News, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo noted that their objection to a lack of Black and other people of color seemed to him “a little incongruous” considering their client is accused in a hate crime case. Gendron’s federal charges are separate from the state charges which he was convicted of in 2022.
Gendron is currently serving eight life sentences and could face the death penalty if he is convicted on federal charges in the trial slated to begin in June 2026.
As attorney John Elmore told the outlet, it seems like his lawyers are doing whatever they can to keep him alive. He also noted that the issue they are pointing to is prevalent in the American criminal justice system.
“It is very ironic that attention to this problem is being brought out in this case, where Payton Gendron committed a racially motivated homicide,” Elmore told reporters by phone after the hearing. “But this has been a persistent problem in our courts that needs to be addressed.”
According to Gendron’s lawyers, Black people, Latinx people, and men are “systemically and significantly underrepresented” in the lists created for jurors to be selected from.
“To illustrate this point, the grand jury that indicted Payton Gendron was drawn from a pool from which approximately one third of the Black persons expected and one third of the Hispanic/Latino persons expected,” they argued.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Higgins, the issue is a “technical violation” and doesn’t rise to the evidence necessary to completely dismiss the indictment.
Notably, Gendron’s lawyers have previously challenged the demographic composition of his federal jury, in April, they filed a motion to move the trial to New York City so that it could be tried by a racially diverse, impartial jury.
Additionally, as a result of their concerns over the jury selection process, the lawyers also requested that the death penalty be removed as a potential punishment. Judge Villardo denied the latter request, but has not decided whether or not he will move the trial to New York City or not.
According to that request from his lawyers, “due to the overwhelming amount of pretrial publicity, combined with the impact of this case on Buffalo’s segregated communities of color, it is impossible for Payton Gendron to select a fair and impartial jury in the Western District of New York.”
They continued, arguing that New York City is “far enough from the local media market to be less impacted by it” and furthermore, “the S.D.N.Y. also has sufficient minority representation that has not been directly impacted by the shooting and its aftermath that a diverse and representative jury should be able to be selected.”
According to ABC News, the families of some of the victims, like Wayne Jones, the son of 65-year-old victim Celestine Chaney, are vehemently opposed to moving the trial.
“What could you really call a ‘fair trial’ and you’re on video doing it?” Jones told ABC News, in reference to the livestream video of the mass shooting that Gendron recorded. “We all know you did it. You already pleaded guilty once.”
He continued, “The only way you could watch that video and not give him the death penalty is if you’re really against it. The only way you could watch that video and not give him the death penalty is if you’re really against itI want him to stay here so I can see the trial. In New York City, we wouldn’t be able to go to the trial.”
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