Gun accessory company tied to racist shooting that killed 10 at Buffalo supermarket to pay $1.75 million


The maker of a gun accessory tied to a racist shooting that killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo will pay $1.75 million to survivors and victims’ families and stop selling the device in New York, state Attorney General Letitia James said Wednesday.

The agreement with Georgia-based Mean Arms settles a lawsuit filed by James and covers claims from various victims’ families and survivors of the 2022 attack at Tops Friendly Market. They also reached agreements to resolve their own separate suits against gunman Payton Gendron’s family and a gun seller, Vintage Firearms LLC, the plaintiffs’ lawyers announced Wednesday.

The claims against Mean Arms focused on an item that locks a magazine onto a rifle. The lock is supposed to keep people from swapping in high-capacity magazines, which are illegal in New York.

But according to James, Gendron easily removed the lock from an AR-15-style rifle and was able to add high-capacity magazines. She also said the company provided step-by-step instructions on the back of its product packaging on how to remove the lock.

“We hope that by holding this manufacturer accountable and banning it from selling this device in New York state, we can offer the people of Buffalo some measure of comfort,” James, a Democrat, said at a news conference in the city.

Messages seeking comment were left for Mean Arms and its attorney.

Some victims’ relatives joined James on Wednesday and said the settlement is a step forward.

“No one should be able to come into a store and, in two minutes, inflict so much damage to a community, to a family, to children,” said Pamela Pritchett, whose mother, Pearl Young, was killed. Young was a 77-year-old Sunday school teacher who ran a food pantry.

Everytown Law, which helped represent some survivors and victims’ relatives, said in a statement that Vintage Firearms has permanently closed and its owner has agreed to refrain from obtaining a federal firearms license in the future. Eric Tirschwell of Everytown Law said its clients’ settlements with Gendron’s parents were confidential.

Attorneys for the gunman’s parents and Vintage Firearms declined to comment.

“The racist mass shooting at Tops in Buffalo was an unbearable tragedy,” James said in a statement. “We lost 10 beautiful lives in a horrific act of violence and hate, and no amount of money can ever return those individuals to their families or erase the devastation the community was forced to endure. Today, justice looks like accountability, and we have ensured that this device will never be sold in our state again.”

Authorities say Gendron, who is white, targeted Tops, a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood, for the attack. The victims ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included a guard, a man shopping for a birthday cake, a grandmother of nine and the mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner.

Gendron is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty in November 2022 to multiple state charges including murder.

A trial on federal hate crime and weapons counts is expected to begin this year. Gendron has pleaded not guilty. The Justice Department said it would seek the death penalty.

The 10 victims, who ranged in age from 32 to 86, included eight customers, the store security guard and a church deacon who drove shoppers to and from the store with their groceries. 



Source link

  • Related Posts

    House Democrats’ Primary Endorsements Divide the Party

    When Jordan Wood, a progressive running for an open congressional seat in Maine, woke up on Monday morning, his husband looked at him as if someone had just died. No…

    Howard Lutnick set to be questioned about relationship with Jeffrey Epstein 

    Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is set to testify behind closed doors on Wednesday about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, making him the first Trump Cabinet official to face questions as…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    Commerce chief Lutnick to face Epstein grilling in closed-door interview – US politics live | US news

    Commerce chief Lutnick to face Epstein grilling in closed-door interview – US politics live | US news

    Life is Strange director says her official adaptation will honor the game

    Life is Strange director says her official adaptation will honor the game

    Canada commits $270M to Ukraine as Carney attends…

    LibertyStream Strengthens Lithium Platform with Faster Cycle Times, Improved Reliability, and On-Site Lithium Carbonate Production

    Jesse Kline: PBO report shows Carney’s rolling the dice with our money

    Global finance watchdog warns over private credit industry fuelling AI boom | Financial sector

    Global finance watchdog warns over private credit industry fuelling AI boom | Financial sector