BUFFALO, N.Y. — The white man who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket made his first appearance in federal court on hate crime charges Thursday, and the judge urged prosecutors to quickly decide whether to pursue the death penalty given the "substantial" cost of those cases.
In a brief proceeding, presiding Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder said Payton Gendron was eligible to be represented by public defenders based on his financial situation. Fielding a series of questions from the judge mostly with "yes" or "no" responses, Gendron said he had not been employed in a year, had $16 dollars in a bank account, had no car and two shares of Disney stock.
