Buffalo supermarket gunman apologizes to victims’ families as he’s sentenced to life: Judge tells him ‘you’ll never see light of day’

Sentencing happened one hour after a victim’s relative lunged at him in court during impact statement

Payton Gendron, 18, from Conklin, NY, shot 13 weekend shoppers, 11 of them black, inside a supermarket, last year May

The family of Kathrine ‘Kat’ Massey, 72, was speaking when the man lunged at Gendron 

Gendron, 19, is being sentenced to life in prison today for the May 2022 massacre

Gendron killed 10 people, all of them black, during his rampage at a Tops Market supermarket in Buffalo, NY

Court concurred with police that the massacre was motivated by the shooter’s hatred for black people

Eleven of those shot were African-American 

Gendron traveled from his parents home in Conklin, New York, to carry out the atrocity in Buffalo, upstate New York

Buffalo shooter Payton Gendron apologized to his victims’ relatives on Wednesday, claiming that he ‘can’t believe he actually’ murdered 10 black people in a racist massacre at a supermarket in upstate New York, last year.
It was a dramatic hearing where Gendron, a white supremacist, cried as he listened to some of his victims’ relatives give impact statements, and where one victims’ relative, overcome with rage, charged at the 19-year-old mass shooter in a bid to attack him in the middle of court proceedings.

Payton Gendron is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole

The man, a relative of 72-year-old Kathrine Massey, was removed from the courtroom.
Before sentencing, Gendron gave his own statement to express remorse.
‘I am very sorry for all the pain I caused. I am very sorry for stealing the lives of your loved ones. I can’t express how much I regret my decision, Gendron stated, in sharp contrast to the defiant 18-year-old who was taking into custody after his attack last year at a Top Friendly Supermarket in Buffalo..

‘I did a terrible thing that day, I shot and killed people because they were black. 
‘Looking back, I can’t believe I actually did it.
‘I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can’t take it back – I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did.’ 

Payton Gendron apologizes to victims of his mass shooting

Gendron had been influenced by a British teenager who posted far-right propaganda online. 
That boy, Daniel Harris, has been jailed for 11 years. 
After he sat back down, a relative of one of the victims could be heard screaming ‘you don’t mean a damn word!’ 

In handing down her sentence, the judge eviscerated Gendron.  
‘There is no place for you in this society.
‘There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances. The damage you have caused is too great. The people you have hurt are too valuable to this community.
‘You will never see the light of day as a free man ever again.’ 
Earlier, the court disrupted into chaos when a relative of one of the victims tried to attack Gendron. 
The man was listening to Barbara Massey Mapps, Kat’s sister, when he launched his attack.
Barbara had been yelling at Gendron: ‘Kat didn’t hurt anybody. You’re going to come to our city and decide you don’t like black people? 
‘You don’t know a damn thing about black people.
‘We are human. We like our kids to go to good schools. We love our kids.

Gendron was sitting at the defense table listening to his victims’ relatives give impassioned impact statements, when the man in grey suit, a relative of Kat Massey, got up and charged at him 

The man was stopped before he could get to Gendron, who was sitting at the defense table.
Gendron was removed from the courtroom in a hurry.
The enraged man had been listening to Barbara Massey Mapps, the sister of victim Katherine ‘Kat’ Massey.
The man was later identified as a family member of the 72-year-old victim. 

‘We never go to your neighborhoods and take people out.’ 
The man was stopped by guards before he could get to the defendant, then was taken out of the courtroom. 
Gendron was ushered out in a hurry. He was brought back into the courtroom after several minutes. 
The family of victim Kat Massey, 72, was speaking when the man launched his attack. 

The man was stopped by guards before he could get to the defendant, then was taken out of the courtroom. 
Gendron was ushered out in a hurry. He was brought back into the courtroom after several minutes. 
In resuming, Judge Susan Eagan cautioned the public gallery: ‘I am sure you’re all disturbed by the physicality we’ve seen in the courtroom here today. 
‘I understand the emotion and anger but we cannot have that in the courtroom.
‘I know you need to address some of your comments to the defendant but we must conduct ourselves appropriately. 
‘We are all better than that.’ 
Gendron cried as he listened to his victims’ relatives give their statements. 
In November, he pleaded guilty to charges including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. The terrorism charge carries an automatic life sentence. 
He carried out the attack aged 18, wearing a bullet-resistant armor and a helmet equipped with a livestreaming camera as he fired his bullets. 

He killed his victims with a semiautomatic rifle, purchased legally but then modified so he could load it with high-capacity ammunition magazines that are illegal in New York. 
There were only three survivors after he shot 13 people, specifically seeking out black shoppers and workers.
In documents posted online, Gendron said he hoped the attack would help preserve white power in the U.S. 
He wrote that he picked the Tops grocery store, about a three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York, because it was in a predominantly black neighborhood. 

While a life prison sentence is guaranteed for Gendron, he also faces separate federal charges that could carry a death sentence if the U.S. Justice Department chooses to seek it. New York state does not have the death penalty.
Gendron’s admission of guilt on the state charges is seen as a potential help in avoiding a death sentence in the penalty phase of any federal trial. 
In a December hearing, defense attorney Sonya Zoghlin said Gendron is prepared to enter a guilty plea in federal court in exchange for a life sentence.