A white supremacist received several life sentences on Wednesday for murdering 10 black people in a racist-inspired attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket last year.
Payton Gendron, now 19, was berated during a victim impact statement by Barbara Massey Mapps, sister of Katherine Massey, one of Gendron's 10 victims. Proceedings were abruptly halted when a man lunged towards Gendron, who was quickly escorted out of the courtroom.
“You don’t know what we’re going through,” a man shouted as Gendron was led away.
Ms Massey, 72, had been shopping at Tops Friendly Market when she was killed by Gendron on May 14, 2022. Among the other victims were a 77-year-old woman who volunteered at a local food pantry and an 86-year-old woman who had been visiting her ill husband earlier in the day.
Aaron Salter, a security guard at the store and a former Buffalo police officer, was killed when he confronted Gendron. Mr Salter fired shots at Gendron, but the bullet did not penetrate the body armour he was wearing. Gendron killed Mr Salter before continuing his rampage.
Kimberly Salter, Mr Salter's widow, wore black and red during the proceedings.
“Red for the blood that he shed for his family and for his community, and black because we are still grieving,” she said.
Gendron delivered an apology to the victims in a statement. A family member of one of the victims earlier said Gendron's apology was only an attempt to avoid the death penalty, local media reported.
In November, Gendron pleaded guilty to a domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
He was the first person in New York to be indicted on a domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate.
A white supremacist, Gendron posted a manifesto online perpetuating racist and anti-Semitic conspiracies. An investigation found that Gendron had extensively researched the 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Gendron posted online that he had chosen to attack the supermarket in Buffalo, a 320-kilometre drive from his home in Conklin, because it was situated in a predominantly black neighbourhood.
He live-streamed the May 14 attack at Tops, in which he used a legally purchased firearm that was illegally modified to load high-capacity magazines.
Buffalo police said Gendron planned to attack another store if he escaped the scene at Tops.
The attack at Tops and the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, 10 days later spawned renewed efforts in Congress to pass the first federal gun reform bill in decades.
Mr Biden and other gun reform advocates have since called for stronger stricter federal measures including universal background checks, expansion of red flags and an assault weapons ban.
