Buffalo Shooter gets Life without Parole

By Joseph Green-Bishop Texas Metro News Correspondent

Moments before sentencing a 19-year-old White supremacist to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a New York State District Court judge told him that American society would be better if he and the ideologies he promoted were eliminated.

his head, but he has gold in his heart,” she said of her grandfather, who is the lone survivor of three brothers.

Although he has witnessed quite a bit of changes over the past nine decades and he only stopped driving himself to the barbershop and grocery store last year, he remains steadfast in his faith and routines.

“Each morning he completes the word puzzle from The Dallas Morning News,” said his son, Charles. “His other passion is football. He is a great fan of the Dallas Cowboys. It is hard to drag him away from the television set when they are playing.”

“You will never again see the light of day as a free man again,” said Judge Susan Eagan to Payton Gendron, who chose a supermarket on the east side of Buffalo, NY to attack after discovering that high numbers of Black people shopped there. Gendron traveled 200 miles from his home to commit the killings in May 2022.

Judge Eagan told Gendron that she would show him no mercy after he had apologized to relatives of the people he killed, telling them that he was sorry for what he had done.

Gendron, who posted the killings on the internet, also said in court that others should not attempt to emulate him. He said that he had learned to hate people of color and Jews online.

White supremacy and institutional racism are evil, Judge Eagan said while looking directly at Gendron. “They are an insidious cancer on our society and in our nation. The damage you have caused is too great. The people you hurt were too valuable to this society.”

Directly addressing Gendron whose vic- tims included men and women, ranging in age from 32 to 86; the judge’s message was stern.

“The judge imposed the correct sentence,” said veteran North Texas criminal defense attorney Bobbie Edmonds. “We must pray for the families of the victims, and we must pray that people learn to love all human beings regardless of differences in culture and skin color,”

Ms. Edmonds added that while many had hoped for the death penalty, the death penalty is not an option in New York.

A relative or friend of each of the victims spoke before Judge Eagan pronounced her sentence in the packed Buffalo courtroom. Sheriff deputies had to restrain one man who lunged at Gendron while one of the relatives spoke to the court.

“You are a cowardly racist,” said Ms. Simone Crawley, whose grandmother, Mrs. Ruth Whitfield, was killed by Gendron. “We are extremely aware that you are not a lone wolf, but a part of a larger organized network of domestic terrorists. And to that network we say that we as a people are unbreakable.”

Kimberly Salter, said that she would pray for Gendron. Like others who made impact statements, Mrs. Salter said that she did not hate Gendron for murdering her husband, Aaron, a Buffalo Police Department retiree. Standing close enough to touch Gendron, and looking directly into his eyes, Salter said, “We will reap what we sow.”

“Our father believes in education,” said Charles Calhoun, the eldest of his father’s five children. “He has a ninth grade education and wanted us to do the very best that we could with our lives.”

Searching for a brighter future for their family, the Navy veteran and his wife, Ruth, left their birthplace in Jefferson, TX in 1953 and landed in West Dallas, where he took a job at a Dallas meat-packing company and the family joined Mt. Tabor Baptist Church.

“Our father and mother were great people of faith,” his son said. “He sang tenor in the male chorus and for many years was a member of the deacon board. Church was a very important part of our fam-

While the senior Calhoun, whose wife passed two years ago, lives alone in Dallas; there are few days when one of his children or grandchildren are not at his home.

His children bring him meals on a regular basis, and one of his grandchildren regularly cleans his home.

On Sundays he worships at the ‘Full of Faith Christian Center’ in DeSoto where his youngest son, Dr. C. Ray Calhoun, is the pastor.

Her grandfather holds down his “patriarchal position as though he was sitting on a throne,” said Dr. Charmeka Calhoun Lipscomb.

“To know him is to love him. We are truly blessed. He may have gray on

Among the many lasting gifts that Mr. Calhoun has bestowed upon his family is an annual family reunion which he started in 1974, his son said. “We just had one in June. It is a wonderful time for every member of the family.”

“Gramps is a man of ethics, humility, compassion, and an undeniable love for his children,” said Keatha Delley-Crew, a grandchild, affectionately using a title for her grandfather that is also used by a number of his grandchildren.

“We can only pray that he feels as loved by members of the family as he has loved us.”

Joseph Green-Bishop is a long-time journalist who has published newspapers in America and Africa. Currently he is a news correspondent for Texas Metro News.