CHARLESTON: The Charleston church shooting accused Dylann Roof now faces federal hate crime charges in US for allegedly targeting his victims on the basis of their race and religion.
A federal grand jury in Charleston indicted Roof on suspicion of using a weapon in a racially motivated hate crime and committing murder in an attempt to obstruct victims’ free exercise of their religious beliefs.
The second charge carries the possibility of a federal death sentence, though it has been rarely invoked.
“We think that this is exactly the type of case that the federal hate crimes statutes were, in fact, conceived of to cover,” U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Wednesday as she announced that a federal grand jury had indicted Dylann Roof. “Racially motivated violence such as this is the original domestic terrorism.”
“To carry out [his] twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof … decided to seek out and murder African Americans because of their race,” Lynch said.
“An essential element of his plan, however, was to find his victims inside of a church, specifically an African American church, to ensure the greatest notoriety and attention to his actions.”
Roof reportedly shot to death nine people during a Bible study class at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on June 17, 2015.
Roof walked into the church carrying a Glock .45-caliber pistol with eight magazines loaded with hollow-point bullets, which are designed to do maximum damage.
