BUFFALO, N.Y. — The 19-year-old white gunman who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery last year was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole during an emotional hearing that was briefly interrupted after a man charged toward him.
The dramatic moment came as the sister of victim Katherine Massey addressed the shooter, Payton Gendron, ahead of his sentencing for the May 14 racist massacre at Tops Friendly Markets.
“You killed my sister. I will hurt you so bad. I’m not gonna be nice. Kat was my sister. I want to personally choke you out,” Barbara Massey told the gunman.
“You don’t know a damn thing about Black people. We’re human. We like our kids to go to good schools. We love our kids. We never go to no neighborhoods to take people out,” she added.
As Barbara Massey continued to address the shooter, a man in a gray jogging suit ran toward Gendron, who was rushed out of the courtroom. Authorities surrounded the unidentified man, leading to a short break.
Erie County Judge Susan Egan spoke about the tense moment after everyone returned to the courtroom.
“I am sure that you are all disturbed by the physicality that we’ve seen in the courtroom here today. I understand that emotion. And I understand that anger. But we cannot have that in the courtroom,” she said.
“We must conduct ourselves appropriately because we are all better than that,” Egan added.
Victim statements then resumed.
Before Egan handed down the sentence, Gendron addressed the victims and the world, saying he didn’t want anyone to be inspired by him.
“I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were Black. Looking back now, I can’t believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online and acted out the hate and now I can’t take it back but I wish I could,” he said.
Gendron’s apology was little consolation for the relatives of Massey, Ruth Whitfield, Pearly Young, Roberta Drury, Heyward Patterson, Celestine…
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