Payton Gendron, who is accused of carrying out a racially motivated, 2022 mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, could be facing the death penalty. This development presents a significant moment under President Joe Biden’s administration, which has refrained from seeking capital punishment.

The Justice Department indicated that it plans to seek the death penalty for the accused shooter and outlined the reasons for this decision on Friday.

The Justice Department said Friday in a court filing it will seek the death penalty for Payton Gendron, the then-19-year-old who killed 10 people in a racially motivated shooting at a Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in May 2022.

"United States believes the circumstances in Counts 11-20 of the Indictment are such that, in the event of a conviction, a sentence of death is justified," the filing said.

Lawyers for Gendron previously said he would consider pleading guilty to the federal charges if the death penalty was taken off the table.

The filing cited the severity of Gendron’s crimes as the DOJ’s motivation for seeking capital punishment, noting that he “intentionally killed Roberta Drury, Pearl Young, Hayward Patterson, Ruth Whitfield, Celestine Chaney, Aaron W Salter Jr., Andre Mackniel, Marcus Morrison, Katherine Massey and Geraldine Talley."

The DOJ also noted that the defendant “expressed bias, hatred, and contempt toward Black persons and his animus toward Black persons played a role.”

The families of the victims were "split" on whether they supported capital punishment for Gendron. Some family members indicated they would rather see him spend the rest of his life in prison, an attorney said.

Terrence Connors, a Buffalo attorney who is representing some relatives of Mr. Gendron’s victims, said they had complicated feelings about the killer’s fate.

“There was a split,” he said, addressing reporters outside Buffalo’s federal courthouse Friday afternoon. “Several of them felt that life in prison was the appropriate sentence. There were others that felt the maximum punishment was warranted in this case, and if not in this case, what case?”

Gendron, who was about 19 years old at the time of the attack, started his shooting spree in the parking lot of Tops Supermarket. He was wearing tactical gear and was heavily armed. He entered the store and continued the shooting, livestreaming the attack on the Twitch platform. He killed 10 people all of whom were black. He also shot and injured two white shoppers.

It was later revealed that the shooting was motivated by anti-black racism. In a manifesto published online, the gunman expressed belief in the “great replacement theory.” During an appearance in court, he admitted that the shooting was motivated by racism.

The DOJ’s decision to pursue the death penalty is notable because President Biden has opposed the federal death penalty. This will be the first time under his administration that the Justice Department pushes for capital punishment.