A federal judge on Thursday urged the United States Justice Department to decide promptly whether to seek the death penalty for a white man accused in the racially motivated shooting death of 10 black people in Buffalo, New York last month.
Payton Gendron (18) is facing 26 counts of hate crimes and firearms offences in a criminal complaint by the justice department stemming from the May 14th attack. A grand jury has not yet returned an indictment, and he has not yet entered a plea on the charges.
During Gendron’s initial appearance in the US District Court for the Western District of New York, US Magistrate Judge H Kenneth Schroeder, jnr determined that Gendron qualifies to be represented by a federal public defender, after Gendron told him he did not have a job and has only $16 in his bank accounts.
The judge said that because the case is death penalty eligible, it will cost the taxpayers a lot more money to foot the bill for Gendron’s legal defence costs.
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“I also have an obligation to the taxpayers of this country to conserve and preserve as much as is reasonably possible their assets,” he said, noting that in prior cases he was aware of, the government expended “huge sums” of money, only for the justice department to decide it would not seek the death penalty.
“I would hope the department of justice would undertake steps that would reasonably bring about a quick decision,” he said.
Joseph Tripi, the federal prosecutor, promised the process "will be serious, it will be thorough, it will be fair" and the department will be as expeditious as possible.
US attorney general Merrick Garland on Wednesday declined to say whether the department will seek the death penalty, noting the department will follow the proper legal process and seek input from survivors and the families of the victims.
President Joe Biden has said he opposes the death penalty. Mr Garland has also previously raised concerns about innocent people being executed and the disparate impact the death penalty has on black Americans.
[ Biden tells Buffalo shooting mourners: ‘Evil will not win’Opens in new window ]
Last July, Mr Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions amid a review of the justice department’s death penalty protocols.
Authorities said Gendron broadcast the attack in real time on the Twitch livestreaming service and apparently posted a white-supremacist rant before the attack, saying that he had been inspired by previous racially motivated mass killings.
The Buffalo shooting and a mass shooting just 10 days later at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, have prompted a bipartisan effort in the US Senate to enact tougher gun laws. — Reuters