U.S. | Tops shooter denied motion to move trial out of Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The fate of the man who shot and killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket in May 2022 will be determined in the city where the tragedy occurred.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo on Tuesday denied a motion to move the federal death penalty trial for Payton Gendron to Rochester.

Attorneys for Gendron had sought the change of venue, arguing the court would be unable to seat a fair and impartial jury due to "pervasive news coverage" in the Buffalo area.

However, Vilardo determined that the local impact of the crime did not warrant moving the proceedings.

"Although the Court agrees with Gendron that holding the trial in Buffalo will likely result in a lengthier jury-selection process," Vilardo wrote in his March 10 ruling, "that consideration is far outweighed by the victims' interests in being able to attend the trial."

Gendron, a white supremacist, is already serving life in prison without parole after pleading guilty in state court to charges of murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate.

The federal trial, which carries the possibility of a death sentence, is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Aug. 17.

The charges stem from the May 14, 2022, mass shooting at the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue.

Source: btpm.org, Staff, DPN, AI, March 11, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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