Payton Gendron

Buffalo mass shooting suspect Payton Gendron pleaded guilty on Monday to all 25 state charges.

He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime and three counts of attempted murder as a hate crime, as well as other assorted charges.
Gendron carried out the racist massacre on May 14 at a Tops Friendly Market where he killed 10 people.

He also wounded three others in the attack with a semi-automatic rifle.

His plea, initially scheduled to take place on Nov. 21, was delayed by one week due to the weather.
He faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison without parole, because New York state does not have the death penalty.

Gendron also faces 27 counts in a federal case, which includes hate crime and firearm charges. That case could bring the death penalty if he is convicted.

Governor Kathy Hochul announces increased funding to support Red Flag Law

The State Attorney General’s Office is receiving $4.6 million to support the state’s Red Flag Law use to prevent gun violence.

Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James announced the funding comes on the heels of the number ERPOs doubling since the state’s Red Flag Law went into effect in August.

The Red Flag Law, also known as the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law, prevents individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing any kind of firearm.

It also provides procedural safeguards to ensure that no firearm is removed without due process while helping to prevent tragedies, like the racist mass shooting in Buffalo.

The number of total ERPOs issued have gone from 1,552 between August 25, 2019 and June 1, 2022 to 3,460 as of October 1, 2022. That’s an increase of 1,908 ERPOs.

Hochul and James said the new funding supports State Police efforts to implement the law. They said, currently, troopers make applications to the court for an ERPO on their own, but with the drastic increase in applications, there is a need for consistent legal representation to ensure the process to remove firearms from potentially dangerous individuals works effectively.

The additional $4.6 million will allow the Attorney General’s Office to add dozens of staff positions to represent the State Police and bolster their efforts to obtain these orders.

Governor Kathy Hochul

State Police requests for protection orders under New York’s updated Red Flag law have increased 93% from 2021.

Governor Kathy Hochul said more Extreme Risk Protection Orders applications have been filed in the last three months than in all of 2021.

The increase comes after Hochul issued an Executive Order in the wake of the mass shooting in Buffalo, “And I required our State Police, not an option, but a requirement, that they file a protection order whenever they have probable cause to believe that an individual is a threat to themselves or others. And on June 6th, I signed into state law, that that expanded it to all law enforcement agencies. So now, when the signs are there, they can immediately get guns out of the hands of these individuals. They do it temporarily at first, there’s a judge involved, and then you determine whether or not that needs to be permanent.”

A total of 832 temporary and final ERPOs have been issued in New York State in the past three months (May – August 2022), compared to the 1,424 issued from August 2019 to April 2022.

State Police have filed 184 red flag applications since Governor Hochul signed the Executive Order on May 18, 2022, a more than 93 percent increase over the 95 orders filed by State Police in all of 2021.

Suffolk County has been a leader in utilizing ERPOs since the Red Flag Law was enacted in August of 2019. Since the week of May 16, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office has served 114 protection orders, a more than 75 percent increase compared with all of 2021.

G.A. Family Services

G.A. Family Services and the Human Rights Commission are collecting food and water donations. These will be distributed to the community around the Buffalo Tops on Thursday, July 7.

Folks may drop off water and non-perishable food donations at the G.A. Family Services between 9am and 5pm. The drop off site is 210 Gustavus Avenue off Falconer Street in Jamestown.

For more information, contact Billy Torres at 716-720-3482 or Dan Groh at 315-806-0930.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in Buffalo to announce Federal charges against suspect in Buffalo mass shooting that killed 10.

Federal charges are being filed against the 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting 10 people at the Tops store in Buffalo.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York has filed a 26-count criminal complaint against Payton Gendron.

The charges include 10 counts of a hate crime resulting in death, three counts of a hate crime involving bodily injury and attempt to kill, 10 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, and three counts of use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

If convicted of the federal charges of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, the alleged shooter could face the death penalty.

In the criminal complaint, federal officials allege that his motive was to “prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race, and to inspire others to commit similar attacks.”

Previously, the accused shooter was already indicted on 25 other counts.

No one in New York had ever previously been indicted on a charge of domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate in the first degree.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Buffalo on Wednesday to pay respects at the site of the mass shooting on Buffalo’s east side. He and U.S. Attorney Trini Ross met with the families of the victims, as well.

The Associated Press reports the proposal falls far short of tougher steps long sought by President Joe Biden and many Democrats. Even so, the accord was embraced by Biden and enactment would signal a significant turnabout after years of gun massacres that have yielded little but stalemate in Congress.

Leaders hope to push any agreement into law rapidly — they hope this month — before the political momentum fades that has been stirred by the recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas.

Participants cautioned that final details and legislative language remain to be completed, meaning fresh disputes and delays might emerge.

In a consequential development, 20 senators, including 10 Republicans, released a statement calling for passage. That is potentially crucial because the biggest obstacle to enacting the measure is probably in the 50-50 Senate, where at least 10 GOP votes will be needed to attain the usual 60-vote threshold for approval.

The compromise would make the juvenile records of gun buyers under age 21 available when they undergo background checks. The suspects who killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo and 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde were both 18, and many perpetrators of recent years’ mass shootings have been young.

The agreement would offer money to states to enact and put in place “red flag” laws that make it easier to temporarily take guns from people considered potentially violent, plus funds to bolster school safety and mental health programs.

Some people who informally sell guns for profit would be required to obtain federal dealers’ licenses, which means they would have to conduct background checks of buyers. Convicted domestic abusers who do not live with a former partner, such as estranged ex-boyfriends, would be barred from buying firearms, and it would be a crime for a person to legally purchase a weapon for someone who would not qualify for ownership.

Congressional aides said billions of dollars would be spent expanding the number of community mental health centers and suicide prevention programs. But they said some spending decisions are unresolved, as are final wording on juvenile records and other gun provisions that might prove contentious.

The agreement was quickly endorsed by groups that support gun restrictions including Brady, Everytown for Gun Safety and March for Our Lives, which organized rallies held around the country on Saturday.

The National Rifle Association said in a statement that it opposes gun control and infringing on people’s “fundamental right to protect themselves and their loved ones,” but supports strengthening school security, mental health and law enforcement. The group has long exerted its sway with millions of firearms-owning voters to derail gun control drives in Congress.

The agreement represents a lowest common denominator compromise on gun violence. Lawmakers have demonstrated a newfound desire to move ahead after saying their constituents have shown a heightened desire for congressional action since Buffalo and Uvalde, but Republicans still oppose more sweeping steps that Democrats want and Sunday’s agreement omits.

These include banning assault-style firearms such as the AR-15 style rifles used in Buffalo and Uvalde, or raising the legal age for buying them.

Democrats have also wanted to ban high capacity magazines and to expand required background checks to far more gun purchases. None of those proposals has a chance in Congress.

The last major firearms restrictions enacted by lawmakers was the 1994 assault weapons ban, which Congress let expire 10 years later.

Jamestown School Board President Paul Abbott and JPS Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker (June 7, 2022)

Jamestown School Board President Paul Abbott called for more action from elected officials on gun control in the wake of recent school shooting in Texas.

Following a moment of silence for the 21 victims of the school shooting in Texas, Abbott, speaking at the school board meeting Tuesday, encouraged political leaders at the state and federal levels to do something, “It’s just absurd that these things continue to happen in this country. It’s absurd that people have access to military-grade body armor. I was a police officer and I didn’t have military-grade body armor. The assault weapons that we allow people to possess and allow people to sell.”

Abbott criticized the officials who aren’t willing to support change, “And for politicians who can’t make changes in that and in our mental health system, I would ask them to stand in a classroom with second and third graders and their parents and explain to them why it’s more important for people to have access to these sorts of things than it is to protect them.”

Abbott added that despite the budget already being passed, he’d like the board to discuss before next school year the possibility of adding more “red shirt” safety officials in the building or School Resource Officers.

In regards to the recent incident where a fourth grader made a threat against another student at Ring School in addition to recent times where schools had “lockout” situations, Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the district is in a “state of heightened concern.”

He said the increased attention from the media and social media can sometimes cause others to act out, “And this is the case, and I stay in touch with lots of superintendents across the state, this is the case across the state. There have been numerous events of this kind all the way across the state from Long Island to Jamestown. And it’s an unfortunate fact of our society that there are some individuals who would engage in behavior that would cause a school to go into lockout or have to have conversations with parents about this sort of thing.”

Whitaker said, however, he always errs on the side of caution, “So if we had to do something that turned out to not to be necessary, I would do that a thousand times rather than miss the one time we should have done something and we didn’t.”

Whitaker, in response to questions raised by a parent during privilege of the floor about why no information was provided about the status of a student who made a threat against Ring Elementary School earlier this week, said the district under Federal privacy law cannot legally disclose information when it comes to student records and information, “So for example, in a disciplinary matter relating to a school incident, the school is not allowed to disclose what happens with that student. And that has led to understandable frustration if you’re unaware of this. We would love to calm fears by releasing information, but that is illegal. It’s not something we’re allowed to do.”

Whitaker said the district is still in the process of debriefing with District School Safety Advisor Brad Meyers leading the process to determine what further strategies and systems to implement. He added the second School Resource Officer who will be working in elementary school buildings in the Fall was already at Ring school Monday working with students.

Governor Kathy Hochul signs gun laws (June 6, 2022)

Governor Kathy Hochul signed 10 bills Monday strengthening New York’s gun laws following a wave of deadly mass shootings.

New Yorkers who are under the age of 21 will now be prohibited from buying semiautomatic rifles under a new law. One of the bills requires microstamping in new firearms, which could help law enforcement solve gun-related crimes.

Another revised the state’s “red flag” law, which allows courts to temporarily take away guns from people who might be a threat to themselves or others.

New York’s Legislature passed the bills last week, following a pair of mass shootings involving 18-year-old gunmen using semiautomatic rifles. Ten Black people died in a racist attack on a Buffalo supermarket May 14. A Texas school shooting took the lives of 19 children and two teachers 10 days later.

Part of New York’s new law will also require all purchasers of semiautomatic rifles to get a license, something now required only for handguns.

Proposed federal legislation that would require buyers of semiautomatic weapons to be 21 is advancing in the U.S. House, but is seen as facing long odds in the Senate.

Hochul also signed a bill Monday that will restrict sales of bullet-resistant vests and armor only to people in certain professions.

The governor said New York will continue to invest in prevention of gun-related crimes by partnering with local communities and continuing to strengthen laws by putting pressure on Congress.

A free showing of the movie “Sister Act” will take place at the National Comedy Center on Friday, June 17 with other activities planned for June 18 and 19 at Jackson-Taylor Park.

Juneteenth Planning Committee Chair Regina Brackman said there will be a lot of activities for families and kids, “Games and carnival activities, we have a three-on-three basketball tournament that will be going through the day, there will be music, we have food vendors, Juneteenth (committee) will be operating a concession stand. That money from the concession stand goes toward our scholarship fund.”

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, originated in Galveston, Texas to commemorate the anniversary date of June 19, 1865 when the announcement came proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas, which was the last state of the confederacy with institutional slavery.

President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law in 2021, recognizing the day as a federal holiday.

Brackman said Juneteenth means a lot today with the Buffalo mass shooting and racial division she sees, “The fact that they made it a holiday speaks volumes, because now you’re acknowledging that that was a pivotal time in our history. And that it needs to be acknowledged, you know, this is a celebration. I think it gives pride that we’re a population that endured a lot and we’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Brackman said they still need volunteers to help with setting up the event and then during the event. She said they also welcome donations to help defray costs of the event.

Those interested in volunteering or donating to this year’s Juneteenth Celebration can email juneteenthofjamestownny@gmail.com or visit the group’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/JTownJTeenth/

This makes New York the first state to approve legislation following shootings in Buffalo and Texas that left a total of 31 dead.

Lawmakers approved bills to broaden abortion protections and bolster voting rights, using the final hours of the 2022 legislative session to deliver the most robust response yet by a state in the face of federal gridlock.

Faced with a looming Supreme Court decision that could strike down Roe v. Wade, Democratic legislative leaders were fully behind a bill package aimed at protecting abortion service providers from legal or professional backlash, among other things.

Legislators also approved new measures to combat voter suppression under the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York, invoking the former congressman and civil rights leader in a nod to the voting rights bill that failed to pass in Congress.

Governor Kathy Hochul, who has already expressed support for many of the bills, is widely expected to sign them into law.

New York will now become the second state, following California, to pass legislation paving the way for the “microstamping” of shell cases with a unique alphanumeric code in order to trace the bullet back to the gun it was fired from. The bill, spearheaded by State Senator Brad Hoylman of Manhattan, is meant to help officials solve crimes, but some Republicans questioned the viability of the technology and argued it amounted to an unnecessary barrier for gun manufacturers.

The legislation that now makes the sale of body vests unlawful — except to police officers and other designated people — came after it was revealed that the 18-year-old gunman who killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket had worn body armor, an increasingly common feature in mass shootings that is typically loosely regulated.

New York — which already bans military-style assault rifles — will also join a handful of states that have raised the minimum age requirement to 21 from 18 for the purchase of some long guns, the same age as for handguns in New York. New buyers of such weapons will now be required to obtain a permit — which includes undergoing a background check and safety course — before the purchase of a semiautomatic rifle.

Hochul vocally lobbied for the legislation, but it could face legal challenges from the gun industry just as the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling this month that could strike down a New York law that sharply limits a person’s ability to carry a weapon outside the home, a potential win for gun-rights groups.

The bills, which cemented New York’s standing as one of the most Democratic statehouses in the country, came as President Biden delivered remarks on Thursday night urging Congress to pass a federal ban on assault weapons and new “red flag” laws.

But some lawmakers privately griped that the focus on national headline-grabbing issues had overshadowed conversation around more New York-centric concerns in the waning days of the legislative session.

Many in the party’s left wing were disappointed that some left-leaning legislation was not prioritized, from beefed-up protections against evictions to elder parole. Environmentally conscious legislation like the one that would allow the New York Power Authority to build publicly-owned renewable energy projects, passed in the Senate but remained unsettled in the Assembly.

Even so, lawmakers appeared poised to pass a two-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining at fossil fuel plants. The proposal was passed by the Assembly, but stalled in the Senate, until late-night discussions on Thursday revived the measure. The bill, which is heavily opposed by the cryptocurrency industry, is the first of its kind in the country, aimed at addressing environmental concerns over the most energy intensive forms of crypto mining.

Less certain was the fate of a criminal justice reform bill that would seal most criminal records after formerly incarcerated individuals have completed their sentences. The bill — known as the Clean Slate Act — passed the Senate, but has been held up in the Assembly. The measure received an unexpected boost Thursday night, however, with the news that the New York State Education Department had come on board, stoking rumors of a last minute push.

There was a far broader consensus on abortion rights, as New York State leaders vowed to make the state a national leader on the issue following news reports that indicated the Supreme Court was poised to overturn the landmark decision from 1973 that made abortion legal across the country.

Lawmakers followed through on that pledge this week with bills aimed at strengthening New York’s existing laws and preparing the state for a surge of people seeking abortions from elsewhere.

One bill passed by both houses will sharply limit the ability of law enforcement from cooperating with criminal or civil cases in states where abortion is restricted. Others ensure doctors have access to malpractice insurance, and aren’t hit with professional misconduct charges for serving patients from states where abortion is a crime.

Still others aim to use the conversation around abortion rights to solidify other liberties under attack. One measure which has been passed by both houses protects the rights of individuals traveling to New York seeking reproductive care as well as transgender or nonbinary people seeking gender-affirming care.

An amendment to the State Constitution that would forbid discrimination based on pregnancy outcomes — or race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender expression — was being hashed out well into the final week of the session, with lawmakers struggling to balance civil liberties with religious ones. As of Thursday, a compromise failed to emerge.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which passed both the Senate and the Assembly, invokes a similarly named bill in Congress that would restore parts of the Voting Rights Acts of 1965 recently gutted by the Supreme Court. That bill passed the House of Representatives in 2021, but has twice failed in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.

The bill requires localities with demonstrated histories of discrimination to prove that any proposed changes to their election process will not result in voter suppression.It would also require more election materials to be translated for non-English speakers and offer voters legal protections in instances of obstruction or intimidation.

Legislative reporters said the State Senate finished voting around 2:30 this morning with the State Assembly expected to reconvene at 9:30 this morning to finish voting on measures.