Jury selection to begin in federal hate crimes trial over Buffalo supermarket shooting

Key Points:

• Payton Gendron faces a federal trial with potential death penalty for the 2022 Buffalo supermarket shooting, where he killed 10 Black victims, including Wayne Jones's mother, Celestine Chaney; Jones opposes the death penalty, preferring Gendron to live with his guilt.
• Gendron, who pleaded guilty to state murder charges and renounced his past views, is charged federally with hate crimes and firearms offenses; his defense will not contest guilt but aims to avoid execution.
• The attack was motivated by White supremacist ideology and the "great replacement theory," targeting Black individuals in what is considered one of the deadliest hate crimes against Black Americans in recent history.
• Hate crimes against Black people remain the most frequent in the U.S., with FBI data showing over 2,800 anti-Black incidents reported in 2025, highlighting ongoing issues of racial violence and domestic terrorism linked to online radicalization.
• Victims' families have mixed views on the death penalty; some advocate for it as justice and deterrence, while others focus on addressing broader societal causes of hate and violence through awareness and prevention efforts.