The TOPS mass murder and opposition to the Death Penalty

Just a little less than two years ago, a young man, Payton S. Gendron, packed up his Bushmaster XM-15 semi-automatic rifle, plus a hunting rifle, and a shotgun, got in his car and drove 3 ½ hours to the TOPS Market on Jefferson Avenue. He gunned down four people in the parking lot and another nine inside the store. Ten of his victims were killed, and three others seriously wounded.

He was motivated by the racial hatred that he had learned from white nationalist and white supremacist websites and literature. He had written racial slurs and racist mottos on his weapon, and shouted racist slogans while he was emptying his gun into his victims. At one point inside the store he pointed his gun at a white person, but then apologized, and didn’t shoot.

As he stood for trial in State Court, he pled guilty in November 2022, and was sentenced to 11 consecutive sentences of life without parole. At the time, the Federal government had also charged him with 26 counts of Federal hate crimes and additional gun charges. 

It is important to remember all of these horrible facts from that painful day in order to set the context for the fact that on Friday, Jan. 12 the Federal Department of Justice announced that they are seeking the death penalty for Payton Gendron. 

There might be a good deal of public support for the execution of Gendron, but our faith calls us to see things differently – and the Church teaches that we must oppose the death penalty, regardless of the circumstances. 

Just a few years ago, Pope Francis directed a change in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that developed the teaching of the Church on the death penalty. Paragraph 2267 has now been completely rewritten so that Catholics can understand the following points about the death penalty:

First, the death penalty used to be considered an appropriate, although extreme means of safeguarding the common good.

Second, there has been an “increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes.” The phrase “increasing awareness” indicates that there has been a development of doctrine in the Church on this issue.

Third, the paragraph now reminds us that use of the death penalty would “definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.” Redemption does not mean that the guilty person would go free, but that they would have the opportunity for repentance and conversion – which is impossible if their life has been taken. 

The very last section of the new Paragraph 2267 tells the whole story: “Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person’, and (the Church) works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

We cannot forget the horrible loss of life on that terrible day in May through the actions of Gendron. We mourn the loss of those sisters and brothers who were taken in the name of racial hatred, and we pray for all those who were affected by the loss of their family members, or friends, or neighbors. But we cannot let our compassion and even our anger cloud our commitment to the infinite value of life and the inviolability and dignity of each person – even one who has committed such a heinous crime. 

As the Catechism states, we must guard his dignity and preserve the possibility of his redemption by allowing him to die a natural death. We are obliged to speak out to our government in opposition to the execution of Payton Gendron – write to Attorney General Merrick Garland or to the White House. 

This is a life issue, and our opposition to the death penalty needs to be clear, firm, and passionate – consistent with our opposition to abortion. We are compelled to speak with one voice in defending all life and the dignity of each person.