Black press must respond to the frivolity of mental illness in US courts reflected in Buffalo shooting case
By Mona Austin
Peyton Gendron killed 10 people and injured 3 other in a shootin attack at a Buffalo. He has written in a jornal that he would have to kill th security guard who had previously question his supicious behavior when he came to the store motnhs earlier.
(The Slice News) -- Truth: The Buffalo grocery store shooter did not kill 10 Black people because he is mentally ill. He killed them out of the fear of a Black planet and having a hate-filled heart. He consciously suited up in tactical gear and stepped onto a grocery store parking lot as if he was going to war. The deaths of the victims were pre-meditated. But when he went to court he plead not guilty and his mental state will be the crutch on which the defense stands. Mental illness , which has increased in the U.S. during the pandemic, is too serious to be used an excuse in cases such as this.
There are individuals with serious mental illness who act out of control because they cna't help themselves. Early evidence shows that is not what happened on May 15 when the suspect drove three and a hlf hours to slay innocent black strangers. His actions were methdoical and evil.
He reportedly didn't kill one man because he realized he was white. This was a clear headed action -- not the conduct of someone was deranged.
"The evidence that we have uncovered so far makes no mistake this is an absolute racist hate crime. It will be prosecuted as a hate crime. This is someone who has hate in their heart, soul, and mind, and there is no mistake that this is the direction that this is going in," Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said.
As the 18-year was leaving the court room following an indictment on murder charges, someone shouted., "Payton you are a coward." He had all of the tactical equipment associated with being a solider or cop but did not enlist in the military to defend the country or his Constitutional rights. Instead, the assault weapon he used enabled him to be a one-man battalion engaging in an independent war on blackness. His mindset may be perceived as deviant yet it does not proclude his ability to distinguish his targets and execute a well-thought-out muerderous plot.
Gendron wrote, "I'm going to have to kill that security guard at Tops I hope he doesn't kill me or even hurt me instantly." This comment was writtent on March 10. He did want he came to Tops to do and had no intention of stoppin the rampage.
While we must be sensitive to those who are mentally ill and not rush to judgment, we can pursue truth and accountability at the same time.
At The Slice News, truth in reporting is a part of our credo. We espouse this becasue of a long history of Blacks in journlism being an arm of the community. Black journlists were historians out of necessity and some degree Black journalists take up the charge of being activists in their work. Yet, we are obligated like all others to praictive fairness in operating as a constitutionally grounded free press. Objectivity has to remain at the center of truthful reporting., we know and practice. The media, most particularly the Black Press is obligated to come forth strongly in reporting the true narrative associated with this wrong-doing and breaking free from the court room status quo of pacifying White offenders with accepting arguments based on pscychological disorders.
It is getting harder to share the truth about the race-induced double standards in the American experience. The dismissal of CRT in classrooms is adding to the erasure of truth. As limts are placed on the reality of Black life in education, the media must double down on its effiorts to illuminate the facts.
FACT: “Not guilty by reason of insanity” is a plea entered by a defendant in a criminal trial, where the defendant claims that they were so mentally disturbed or incapacitated at the time of the offense that they did not have the required intention to commit the crime, and are therefore not guilty." (Source: Cornell Law)
The Bouvier Law Dictionary explains that not guilty by reason of insanity is a plea “essentially admitting the defendant committed the act of the offense yet denying responsibility because the defendant lacked the capacity to act with criminal intent at the time.”
A court appointment lawyer entered a not guilty plea for the defendant. We do not know what the basis of the plea is. In our gathering we did not see the words "by reason of insanity" but expect that i the direction in whic the case will go.
Should this type of defense be allowed considering the preliminary elvidence that has been recorded? In a country where everyone has the right to a free tiral, the burdern falls on society to demand that laws are changed to reflect the wrong doing of the mentally ill. As it stands, anyone who claims instantiy and has an expert agree under oath can potentially get away with murder. The penalty is being sent to a metal institiution. Repeatedly, this has been the cycel in murder cases. Until the jury speaks, the media must ask the right questions to ensure that justice is sought. IN the meantime, we must speak out about the "not ulty" plea being accepted in a case with overwhelmin pre-trial evidence against a defendant. The process to examine the architecture of our corminal justiice system starts with questions. The biggest question here is how can Peyon Gendron begin to say he is not guilty?