A jury took two hours to find him guilty of one of the most notorious crimes in modern American history. Now he faces life in prison or execution.
CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Dylann Roof was convicted of one of America’s most notorious crimes on Thursday, found guilty of committing a massacre of nine black worshipers who had welcomed him into the basement of Emanuel A.M.E. Church.
Among a slew of mass killings in recent years, the bloodbath during a Bible study was notable for its setting; the brutal, racially motivated killings occurred suddenly within the hallowed walls of a historic, black Southern church. The crime was also notable for the contrast between the starkly racist views of its perpetrator and the kindness of his victims, who had offered Roof a chair and Bible as they began a weekly discussion on June 17, 2015.
Roof joined the group that warm evening for nearly an hour, laughing along with his hosts, all while he concealed a handgun and magazines of bullets in a pack around his waist. When the worshipers stood to pray, closing their eyes, Roof took the opportunity to open fire, quickly killing the majority of occupants in the room, starting with the pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who sat beside him. Three people survived, including one woman, Felicia Sanders, who described Roof as “evil, evil evil as can be” in testimony last week.
“There is no place on Earth for him except the pit of hell,” testified Sanders, who watched Roof murder her 26-year-old son, Tywanza Sanders, and eight others.
Jurors deliberated for two hours before convicting Roof of 33 charges, which included firearm crimes, religious obstruction crimes, and hate crimes. They will return to court in January to decide upon a punishment of life imprisonment or the death penalty. Roof, who stared ahead blankly throughout the entire trial, has elected to serve as his own attorney during this sentencing phase on January 3.
During closing arguments Thursday morning at the Charleston Federal Courthouse, Roof’s attorney David Bruck conceded his client shot and killed nine people for racially motivated reasons, but asked jurors to go beyond the grisly facts of the case and consider why Roof attacked the unsuspecting worshipers. Read more here>http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/15/dylann-roof-convicted-of-murdering-9-black-charleston-churchgoers.html