A jury in Charleston, S.C., has found gunman Dylann Roof guilty on all 33 counts of federal hate crimes he faced for murdering nine people and attempting to kill three others in the basement of a historically black church.
If you remember the horrific details, Roof entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in downtown Charleston on the evening of June 17, 2015, and, for nearly an hour, sat among a dozen people at a bible study before opening fire during the worshippers’ final prayer.
The trial featured six days of testimony from 30 witnesses, including a recorded confession and excerpts from Roof’s journal.
One witness, Felicia Sanders, described hiding under a table and “cowering with her 11-year-old granddaughter who was with her, and she described feeling the blood of her mortally-wounded son and aunt who were on either side of her,” as NPR’s Debbie Elliot reported.
Another witness, Polly Sheppard, told the jury Roof had stood over her with his gun, and asked her if she had been shot. When she said no, Roof told her, “I’m not going to. I’m going to leave you here to tell the story.”
According to NPR.org, Less than 24 hours after the massacre, Roof gave a two-hour taped interview to FBI agents, part of which was played for the jury. In it, Roof said of Sheppard, “I didn’t shoot her because she was, like, looking at me.”
Roof, who was 21 at the time, was arrested ALIVE the next day after the shooting, and was granted something to eat on his way to jail, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.
He also said, “I am guilty. We all know I’m guilty.”
Roof also explained at least some of his motives. He said he felt he “had to” commit the crime because “no one else was brave enough,” and explained to the agents that he believed white people “already are the second-class citizens.”
Roof had chillingly confessed to investigators nearly 18 months earlier and revealed his purpose in a blatantly racist manifesto that he published online. His choice of targets seemed intensely premeditated — he scouted the church half a dozen times — although he also researched other black churches and a festival elsewhere in South Carolina before settling on Charleston because, he wrote, it is the “most historic city in my state.”
Roof said he had been inspired after he searched on Google for the phrase “black on white crime” in reaction the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was black, by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
“That was it,” Roof said.
Asked if he believed those he shot were bad people, Roof said almost incredulously, “They’re in church, they weren’t criminals or anything.”
Roof is also facing separate murder charges brought by the state of South Carolina, which is also seeking the death penalty. That trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 17.
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