Supermarket gunman who targeted Black people wants charges dropped, says grand jury was too white

By CAROLYN THOMPSON

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Attorneys for the gunman who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket say the federal charges against him should be dropped because there weren’t enough Black people and other minority groups on the grand jury that indicted him.

A judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday on Payton Gendron’s claim that the selection process for the grand jury was flawed.

Gendron, who is white, could face the death penalty if convicted in the 2022 mass shooting at a Tops supermarket, which he targeted because of its location in a primarily Black neighborhood. Those killed ranged in age from 32 to 86. Three others were wounded.

He is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty in November 2022 to multiple