White supremacist charged with hate crimes, gun offences

WASHINGTON • The US Justice Department filed federal hate crime charges against a white supremacist accused of killing 10 black people in Buffalo, New York, last month, saying he was driven by a desire to "prevent black people from replacing white people".

Payton Gendron faces 26 counts of hate crimes and firearms offences, according to the charges.

The complaint contains chilling details about the May 14 shooting, including a moment when Gendron turned to a white male victim who had been shot in the leg and said "sorry" before moving on, according to a sworn statement filed by an FBI agent.

"We will be relentless in our efforts to combat hate crimes and support communities terrorised by them, and to hold accountable those who perpetrate them," said Attorney-General Merrick Garland, who travelled to the site of the shooting on Wednesday and met the victims' families.

Gendron, 18, could face the death penalty if found guilty. Mr Garland declined to say whether it would be sought if Gendron is convicted. The Justice Department has not yet sought the death penalty in any cases on his watch.

He said the department has "both a legal and a moral obligation" to fight hate crimes and discrimination and noted that it was created in the 1870s, during Reconstruction, to protect black people from white supremacist attacks by the Ku Klux Klan.

Gendron already faces the possibility of life in prison without parole on 25 New York state charges, including first-and second-degree murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. He has pleaded not guilty.

He researched to find a neighbourhood with a large black population and drove hours to get there, prosecutors claim.

Gendron allegedly killed 10 people and wounded three at the Tops Friendly Markets in a predominantly black neighbourhood in Buffalo, New York before police said he surrendered to officers inside the grocery store.

The gunman broadcast the attack in real time on the Twitch live-streaming service and apparently posted a white supremacist rant before the attack saying that he had been inspired by previous racially motivated mass killings.

Authorities said Gendron visited Tops on March 8, then "created two sketches of the interior layout" of the supermarket and counted the number of black people inside and outside the store, including cashiers and two black security guards.

The criminal complaint says the semi-automatic rifle used in the assault had the names of others who committed mass shootings written on it, as well as phrases like "Here's your reparations!" and "The Great Replacement".

"The Great Replacement" refers to a false conspiracy theory that various elites are engineering the replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants.

The FBI said it had uncovered a hand-written note in Gendron's bedroom in which he apologised to his family for committing "this attack" and said he had to do it "for the future of the white race".

The Buffalo shooting and a mass shooting just 10 days later at a school in Uvalde, Texas, have prompted a bipartisan effort in the Senate to enact tougher gun laws.

Momentum for legislation picked up earlier this week as a group of US senators announced a deal on a package of measures including federal funds to boost mental health services and school safety, some enhanced background checks for younger gun buyers and money to help states implement red flag laws.

REUTERS