The teenager accused of gunning down 10 Black people in a mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket this past May, pleaded not guilty on Monday to 27 federal hate crime charges that could be punishable by the death penalty, The New York Post reports.
A court-appointed attorney entered the not guilty plea on behalf of 19-year-old Payton Gendron, who remained silent during the brief arraignment, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and shackles.
The lawyer told the judge in the western New York federal courthouse that she hoped to resolve the case before trial, signaling that Gendron may end up pleading guilty to some or all of the charges in the 27-count indictment against him.
The Department of Justice has not yet decided whether it will seek the death penalty in the case, according to The New York Post.
Last month, the Justice Department announced federal hate crimes charges against Gendron, saying he was motivated by racist hate when, on May 14, he took a semi-automatic assault weapon to a Tops grocery store in a largely Black neighborhood of Buffalo and killed 10 people, while wounding three others.
On June 1, Gendron was charged by New York state with domestic terrorism and ten counts of first degree murder.
He had earlier pleaded not guilty to a single count of first-degree murder.
Prior to the shooting, Gendron uploaded a manifesto to the internet, warning of “white genocide”, citing low birthrates among people of European heritage across the globe, and higher birthrates among non-white populations.
A document posted online by the suspect detailed his initial plans weeks before the shooting.
According to the document, obtained by the Washington Post, Gendron refers to the local Tops supermarket as “attack area 1,” also noting two other areas in the city where he can “shoot all blacks.”