Court rejects Tops mass shooter motion to dismiss hate crime charges

A judge has rejected the Tops mass shooter’s motion to dismiss his hate crime charge.

The ruling centers around charge 27 in Payton Gendron’s federal indictment. The charge was the last in his Federal Indictment and specifically focuses on those who were not killed or injured by Gendron — but rather those who were in and around the store at the time of the shooting.

According to court documents, defense attorneys argued that the language used in the argument is too vague because it states that “Payton Gendron used a firearm to attempt to cause bodily injury to unnamed ‘Black people.’ The defense also stated that the term “Black people” is not sufficient in identifying a specific individual. Attorneys for Gendron went on to claim that there has to be a clearer identification of individuals — they included examples such as a name or initial.

Prosecutors at the time said Gendron’s lawyers lacked reason in their argument. The ruling comes one day before the three year anniversary of the tops mass shooting.

Gendron shot and killed 10 Black people and injured three others in a racially motivated mass shooting on May 14, 2022.

Read more: WGRZ