Breaking: Dylann Roof convicted of federal hate crimes in Charleston church rampage

Dylann Roof. Photo courtesy of Charleston County Sheriff's Office

CHARLESTON, S.C., Dec. 15 (UPI) — Self-proclaimed white supremacist Dylann Roof was convicted of federal hate crimes Thursday, after jurors deliberated for a short period of time in the case of last year’s Charleston church shooting.

Roof was found guilty on all 33 federal counts, including charges of hate crimes, firearms violations and obstruction of religion. Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before reaching a verdict.

Roof stood expressionless as the jury foreman read the verdict, the Post and Courier reported, much as he has been throughout the entire legal proceedings. He will return to court in 19 days to learn whether he will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.

Jurors received the case Thursday after prosecutors and Roof’s defense wrapped closing arguments in the federal prosecution.

Roof admitted to investigators to being the killer immediately after his arrest in June 2015, but pleaded not guilty to federal hate crimes charges. He supposedly offered to plead guilty to the crimes in exchange for the removal of the death penalty, but prosecutors refused.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams told jurors Thursday that the defendant showed “tremendous cowardice” and “overwhelming” hatred with his violent actions.

Nine people were killed on June 17, 2015, after Roof entered the Emanuel AME Church and sat in a bible study for at least 30 minutes before rising to his feet and opening fire. Surveillance video at the church captured his entrance and exit but none of the shooting.

“He sat there with them, and he waited until they were at their most vulnerable,” Williams said Thursday. “In those actions we see exactly who this defendant is … a man whose actions show him to be a man of tremendous cowardice, shooting them when their eyes were closed [to pray], shooting them when they were on the ground.

Worshippers arrive at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, S.C., on June 21, 2015 — four days after nine people were gunned down in the historic black church. The gunman, self-styled white supremacist Dylann Roof, launched the attack hoping it would spark a race war in the United States, prosecutors argued at trial. File Photo by John Taggart/European Pressphoto Agency

“For every person he killed, he must be held accountable.”

During trial, multiple authorities testified that Roof had cased the church for monthsbefore the actual shooting and had a list of several other Charleston churches, potential targets, in his vehicle at the time of his arrest. Prosecutors called Roof’s actions “cold and calculating.”

Prosecutors argued that Roof launched the attack with the goal of sparking a race war in the United States, apparently frustrated with what he viewed as an excess of violence perpetrated by black Americans against whites.

“[He believes] the color of a person’s skin makes them less than human,” Williams said in his closing argument.

During the six-day trial, jurors watched a two-hour interrogation of Roof by FBI agents, during which he admitted to being the shooter and, at times, appeared to laugh at the act.

Roof’s defense attorney, David Bruck, attempted to simplify the case in his summation — and paint the 22-year-old as a troubled young loner who had a misguided view of society and had “nowhere to go” — a defense position that leaned slightly toward an insanity defense, although psychological experts declared him mentally competent for trial.

Bruck attributed much of Roof’s behaviors to things he had seen and learned on the Internet, and argued that his perception of reality had been severely warped. He also argued that Roof did not premeditate the murders, explaining the trips to Charleston in the months before the attack as more ritualistic than nefarious.

The bullets in Roof’s gun, he argued, were primarily intended for himself.

In conclusion, he asked jurors to evaluate the illogical senselessness of the shootings and consider the idea that there may be more to the story.

Jurors sided with prosecutors and moved Roof one step closer to a death sentence. He will be sentenced Jan. 3, two weeks before his state murder trial is scheduled to start.

Police officers secure Calhoun Street in Charleston, S.C., on June 17, 2015, after 22-year-old Dylann Roof opened fire on a prayer meeting at the Emanuel AME Church and killed nine people at the historic black church. Roof was convicted Thursday on federal hate crimes charges related to the attack, and faces a possible death sentence. File Photo by Richard Ellis/European Pressphoto Agency
Police officers secure Calhoun Street in Charleston SC on June 17 2015 after 22 year old Dylann Roof opened fire on a prayer meeting at the Emanuel AME Church and killed nine people at the historic black church Roof was convicted Thursday on federal hate crimes charges related to the attack and faces a possible death sentence File Photo by Richard EllisEuropean Pressphoto Agency

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