Radical Hate Manifesto: The Buffalo Supermarket Attack

0:25 I'm going to have to kill that security guard. These chilling words, whether heard or read, are horrifying enough on their own, but they become even more sickening when we realize that the sinister intentions behind them were brought to life just a few short months later. The man, or, in some ways more than others, the boy behind those words was Peyton S. Gendron. Born on June twentieth, two thousand and three, in New York, Peyton planned on following his parents and becoming a civil engineer. To do that, he first went to Susquehanna Valley High School, where classmates remembered him as being a little odd but a quiet student, someone who just kept to himself.

1:08 But that was only until the summer of twenty twenty one, when Peyton would say something that sent a shiver down everyone's spines. A teacher asked him and his classmates what they planned to do when the school year was up. Others mentioned traveling, summer vacations and universities. Peyton's answer was, I want to murder and commit suicide. His teacher didn't skip a beat. This incident was immediately reported, and Peyton was referred to a mental health hospital for evaluation, a quick and timely response from those in charge, and one that couldn't come any sooner because Peyton actually already owned multiple firearms. But only a day and a half later Peyton was released. He told the doctors and the police who'd responded to the incident that it had all been a joke and that he he only said that to get out of class. The authorities believed him. They didn't file anything against him, they didn't remove his weapons, and nothing serious when on his records. Peyton then enrolled in Sunny Broome Community College to study engineering science and seemed to move on with his life, but online he revealed his true intentions. He confessed that his plans to commit murder and then kill himself had been real and none of it had been a joke. In what is now being called his Manifesto, a one hundred eighty page document, outlines exactly how Peyton was feeling. He cites several sources far rights and white supremacist

2:39 authors and politics, and he says that he believes that white people in America are being subjected to genocide. He describes that he had not always felt this way. He claims to have actually originally supported left leaning politics, but that he couldn't abide by them anymore. It was four Chan, he claimed, that opened to racist memes that had spread at the beginning of the pandemic, had shown him that there was an active race war going on right under all of our noses, and at the end of things, it wouldn't be white people who'd come out on top. If I could go back, maybe I'd tell myself to get the f off of four Chan and get an actual life.

3:21 He later wrote online in a moment of self reflection, I would like to say I had a quite normal childhood, but that is not the case. It's not that I actually dislike other people. It's just that they make me feel so uncomfortable. I've probably spent actual years of my life just being online, and to be honest, I regret it. I don't go to friends houses often, or go to any parties or whatever. Every day after school I would just go home and play games and watch YouTube, mostly by myself. For any of you listening and hoping that this self reflection meant that Peyton was doubting himself and his feelings enough to change his plans. That tragically not what happened. His online activity goes on to describe a trip to the emergency room in the spring of twenty twenty one. This visit had been the result of Peyton's confession to his teacher, and he explains that he ended up having to spend twenty hours in the hospital before he was released. His time there was supposed to draw him away from any nefarious intentions he may have had, but instead, he wrote that it pushed him towards actually acting on them.

4:28 Peyton decided to make his ambitions a reality. He began studying other famous attacks and staking out locations. He purchased more weapons and more ammunition, and modified the ones that he already owned so that they could hold more rounds. All of this was documented online, either in his manifesto or in a private server on discord, where he kept a daily log. In January twenty twenty two, he honed in on a location he knew it would be somewhere in Buffalo, which was the closest city to him that had the highest black population, and then he narrowed down the search even further. He studied churches and shops, even a synagogue, to see if he could target Jewish people instead, and then he found Top's Friendly Markets, the only supermarket in Buffalo's East Side neighborhood. He studied their opening times and used Google to see when it was the busiest. Everything was hinged towards doing as much damage as possible, all with the intent of terrorizing, in Peyton's words, quote all non white, non Christian people and get them to leave this country. Peyton did all the reconnaissance that he could do online and then made plans to go down to Top's Friendly Markets in person. But first he had some last minute modifications to do on his weapons. He covered them in racial slurs and names of other extremists who had committed terrible acts of violence and attacks. They were covered in slogans and references to the far right ideology that Peyton was using to justify the

5:58 actions he was about to take. He was about as ready as he could be. The only thing he had left to do was go and see Top's Friendly Market with his own eyes so that he could get a good sense of the place. In March two thousand twenty two, he drove hours from his home town of Conklin County, New York, to Buffalo and made his way into the store. He didn't draw any attention to himself at first, but when he began sketching out the layout and making note of other people's races, he was approached by the security guard. In hindsight, it was a close call, Peyton later wrote. He managed to swindle his way past the security guard by claiming that he was collecting census data and left before any one could question him further. I'm going to have to kill that security guard. I hope he doesn't kill me, Peyton shared in his logs. Peyton wouldn't see Tops again until May two thousand twenty two. The then nineteen year old arrived on May thirteenth and positioned himself outside. He looked like a beggar, and many people mistook him for one. The manager at the store actually asked Peyton to leave, probably more than grateful anything else that Peyton did so without arguing, but he would be back the very next day. About a half an hour before he arrived, Peyton sent out several invitations to join that private server on discord, where he had been keeping a daily log of all of his preparations. He also uploaded his manifesto onto Google Docs and got in his car.

7:28 He was wearing camouflage clothing and several layers of protection, including a military helmet. Once he'd reached the parking lot of the Top's Friendly Market, he live streamed his actions on Twitch. Only two minutes into the stream and Twitch shut him down. Just got to go for it, He's heard saying before the feed cut out, and then he opened fire. Around two thirty Peyton shot and killed four people in the parking lot before entering the store. Many heard the shots outside, but Peyton moved quickly and didn't leave much time for people to get to safety. Some staff and members of the public managed to make it into the break room and barricade the door. Some made it into the milk fridges, only to find Peyton shooting at them. They were some of the lucky ones, as the milk cartons actually ended up blocking the bullets.

8:18 It was then that Peyton's own words would turn into a chilling case of foreshadowing. Former Buffalo Police Department officer and now armed security at Top's Friendly Market, Aaron Salter Junior, approached Peyton and tried to end this heinous attack. Aaron shot at Peyton and hit him in the head. The military helmet that Peyton was wearing actually helped save his life. Peyton then turned on Aaron and opened fire, killing him almost instantly. Just like Peyden said he would have to do, he killed the security guard. First responders were still on their way, and Peydon was now free to roam the store. He made his way through the aisles, picking off victims until he whipped around and pointed his gun at someone hiding behind the checkout counter. He then apologized and moved on, leaving the victim alive and physically unarmed because they were white. About six minutes after the attack started, law enforcement had Peyden pinned outside the store.

9:15 Peyton's plan had been to continue his attack, but it looked like he would be moving on to phase two sooner than expected. He pointed a gun at his own neck and prepared to commit suicide. It seemed Peyden would get exactly what he wanted all along, but officers at the scene managed to talk Peyden out of taking his own life. He dropped his weapon and removed some of his body armor before surrendering himself to the police. A peaceful end to a tragic event that had just left ten innocent people dead. The courts, and the jury then threw the book at him. Peyton was found guilty of one count of domestic terrorism, ten counts of first degree murder as a hate crime, ten counts of second degree murder, and three counts of attempted second degree murder. He was sentenced to eleven life sentences without the possibility of parole, with an additional ninety years, but he still had more court cases to come.

10:09 Given the magnitude of his crimes, it was possible that the prosecutions desired for the death penalty would be fulfilled before the day was done. It was only that the state of New York changed its legislature on the death penalty that spared Peyton from sharing the same fate as many of his victims. That's ten minute murder for today Brief and bingeable True Crime. I'm Joe, I'm the host, and thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast today. If you're a new listener, welcome in. Make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening, and that will more easily help you catch up on all the back episodes and see the new ones when they're available. For everything related to the podcast, you can go to ten minute Murder dot com and I need to give you a heads up. Like always, I plan to post photos on social media as it relates to this case. Now, you know that I never post graphic and gory content on social media because first of all, I don't like seeing it, and I just assume that you don't either, so I don't post that. However, some of these photos, the non graphic photos, like the weapon I describe. He's got slurs written on his guns. These pictures when I post them may or may not be taken down. I don't know, So you can go to Facebook and Instagram and see if they're there. I'm going to post them anyway, just because I

11:39 think it's important that you see all of the details of this case with your own eyes. So I'm going to post them now. Whether they are there at the time when you go to look for them, I don't know. Rarely do I have a post that gets flagged or taken down, but I have a feeling this one might be one of them. So go check it out on Facebook. You can search ten minute Murder and on Instagram as well. And that's going to do it. That's your episode for today. Thank you. So much for listening to ten minute murder