Final jury selection began Tuesday, Oct. 13, in the federal hate-crimes trial of the white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in 2022. The proceeding could result in a federal death sentence.
Payton Gendron faces 27 federal charges, including 10 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, three hate-crime counts involving attempted killings and firearms offenses. The Justice Department says he selected the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue because it served a predominantly Black neighborhood and intended to kill Black people.
On May 14, 2022, Gendron drove more than 200 miles from Conklin, New York, to Buffalo and opened fire at the grocery store. Ten people were killed and three others were wounded. The victims who died were Roberta Drury, Margus Morrison, Andre Mackniel, Aaron Salter Jr., Geraldine Talley, Celestine Chaney, Heyward Patterson, Katherine Massey, Pearl Young and Ruth Whitfield.
Gendron is already serving life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to state murder and domestic-terrorism charges in 2023. His federal lawyers have said he would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, but the Justice Department is pursuing capital punishment, according to The Associated Press.
The federal case is focused not only on the killings but also on the attack’s explicitly racist motive. Prosecutors allege Gendron embraced white-supremacist conspiracy theories, chose the location to maximize the number of Black victims and livestreamed part of the assault.
For families and the wider Buffalo community, the trial reopens a painful chapter while offering another legal forum for accountability. It also arrives as anti-Black hate crimes remain a major national concern. FBI data released in August showed law-enforcement agencies reported more than 2,800 anti-Black bias incidents in 2025—nearly three times the number targeting Latinos, AP reported.
The final phase of jury selection is intended to identify jurors who can weigh evidence fairly and, if Gendron is convicted, decide unanimously whether to impose death or life imprisonment. Because he is already serving a state life sentence, the federal trial’s central consequence is whether the government may execute him for the racist attack.
