That's according to a court filing by the Justice Department on Friday.
It marks the first time the Biden administration has initiated capital punishment proceedings.
Payton Gendron, who was 18 at the time of the May 14th 2022 mass shooting at a Tops Friendly Markets store, was motivated by his "animus toward Black persons," according to the DOJ.
In February, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to separate state charges of murder and domestic terrorism.
In a statement on Friday, Gendron's court-appointed attorneys said they were (quote) "deeply disappointed" in the DOJ's decision to seek the death penalty.
Gendron's defense lawyers had previously said he would consider pleading guilty to more than two dozen federal charges - including hate crime and firearm offenses - if the death penalty was taken off the table.
The case is the first under President Joe Biden in which the Justice Department has sought capital punishment in a new case.
Biden campaigned against the death penalty during the 2020 presidential race.
Federal prosecutors under U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland have sought the death penalty in two other cases but the initial decisions were made during the Trump administration.
