Government Rejects Plea & Seeks Death in Trial of White Man Accused of Murdering 9 Black People in Charleston Church

From [HERE] and [HERE] The government refused a plea offer from accused racist suspect Dylann Roof on Friday. Roof, the man charged with killing nine black church members attending Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, offered to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced her decision in May to pursue the death penalty. "The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision," said Ms. Lynch. The critics for the Justice Department's decision have several arguments, including the efficacy and morality of the death penalty. William N. Nettles, previous United States attorney for South Carolina, says that a federal death penalty trial would be duplicative as the state is "both willing and able to address the issue." Roof is also facing a trial for capital crimes in state court beginning in January.

During a prayer service he is alleged to have killed nine African Americans, including senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney, and injured one other person. After several people identified Roof as the main suspect, he became the center of a manhunt that ended the morning after the shooting with his arrest in Shelby, North Carolina. He later confessed that he committed the shooting in hopes of igniting a race war.

Three days after the shooting, a website titled The Last Rhodesian was discovered and later confirmed by officials to be owned by Roof. The website contained photos of Roof posing with symbols of white supremacy and neo-Nazism, along with a manifesto in which he outlined his views towards blacks, among other peoples. He also claimed in the manifesto to have developed his racist views after reading about the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin and "black-on-white crime." [MORE]

Some believe the entire episode was a hoax.[MORE] However, unlike other events suspected as "false flag" operations, an actual criminal trial may answer lingering questions. According to the government, Roof visited slave plantations, cemeteries of his racist heroes and took various photos posing with confederate flags and such [see photo above]. [MORE]  

Jury selection for the trail is scheduled to resume on Monday after the delay due to a request for a competency hearing. US District Judge Richard Gergel released an order [PDF, text] that found Roof to be competent to stand trial. The closed competency hearing included the testimony of Dr. James C. Ballenger, one of the nation's "most renowned and respected psychologists." Last year Roof entered a temporary plea of not guilty. He faces 33 charges including federal hate crimes and firearms charges for killing and attempting to kill African-Americans based on race and in an effort to interfere with the victims right to exercise their religious beliefs.

The case has been marked by public demonstrations of forgiveness and reconciliation. 

The Justice Department cited nine aggravating factors, including that Mr. Roof had “expressed hatred and contempt towards African-Americans, as well as other groups, and his animosity toward African-Americans played a role in the murder charges in the indictment.”

Prosecutors also said that Mr. Roof had “demonstrated a lack of remorse” and that he had caused “injury, harm and loss to the individuals that he killed as well as to the family, friends and co-workers of those individuals.” [MORE]