AG Merrick Garland says death penalty a possibility for Tops shooter, but that decision will come later

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

44% : New York does not have a death penalty, but the federal government does.
42% :Whitfield declined to say what he thought about whether the death penalty should be sought.
41% : Payton Gendron, 18, of Conklin, already indicted by an Erie County court, is now facing 26 federal charges, including 10 counts hate crime resulting in death for each of the 10 people killed - a crime that could be eligible for the death penalty.
41% :The process to pursue the death penalty is not a simple one.
41% : "It will be interesting to see whether the pressure brought upon them will cause them to seek the death penalty in this case, because if they do not seek it in this case, what other case would they ever seek it for?"0
39% : "We're not here to talk about the death penalty.
39% : "At that point, the Department of Justice will follow its policies and procedures to determine whether they are going to actually seek the death penalty," Covert said.
30% : A decision to seek the death penalty would need consent from a cadre of top Justice Department officials and Garland, who has recently expressed concerns about the death penalty, including capital punishment's "arbitrariness" and its "disparate impact against people of color."
24% :"We know that the Biden and Garland administration has not been supportive of death penalty in general," Covert said.

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