Dylann Roof

Dylann Roof
Mugshot of Roof taken by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, June 18, 2015
Born
Dylann Storm Roof

(1994-04-03) April 3, 1994 (age 30)
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
Occupation(s)Unemployed, former Landscaper
Known forPerpetrator of the Charleston church shooting
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Motive
Conviction(s)Federal
Hate crimes resulting in death (18 U.S.C. § 249) (9 counts)
Hate crimes involving an intent to kill (18 U.S.C. § 249) (3 counts)
Obstruction of religious exercise resulting in death (18 U.S.C. § 247) (9 counts)
Obstruction of religious exercise involving an intent to kill using a weapon (18 U.S.C. § 247) (3 counts)
Use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death (18 U.S.C. § 924) (9 counts)
South Carolina
Murder (9 counts)
Attempted murder (3 counts)
Possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime
Criminal penaltyFederal
Death
South Carolina
9 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole plus 95 years
Details
DateJune 17, 2015
c. 9:05 p.m. – c. 9:11 p.m.
Location(s)Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Target(s)African-American churchgoers
Killed9
Injured1
WeaponsGlock 41 .45-caliber handgun
Imprisoned atUSP Terre Haute
Signature

Dylann Storm Roof[1] (born April 3, 1994) is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, neo-Confederate, and mass murderer who perpetrated the Charleston church shooting.[2][3] During a Bible study on June 17, 2015, at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Roof killed nine people, all African Americans, including senior pastor and state senator Clementa C. Pinckney, and injured a tenth 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.[4] Roof's actions in Charleston have been widely described as domestic terrorism.[5]

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 toward Black people, among other groups.[6][7] He also claimed in the manifesto to have developed his white supremacist views after reading about the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin and Black-on-white crime.

On December 15, 2016, Roof was convicted in federal court of all 33 federal charges (including hate crimes) against him stemming from the shooting; on January 11, 2017, he was sentenced to death for those crimes.[8] On March 31, 2017, Roof agreed to plead guilty in South Carolina state court to all state charges pending against him—nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony—to avoid a second death sentence. In return, he accepted a sentence of life in prison without parole.[9] On April 10, 2017, Roof was sentenced to nine consecutive sentences of life without parole after formally pleading guilty to state murder charges.[10][11][12][13] He is currently awaiting execution on death row at USP Terre Haute.

  1. ^ "Attorney General Lynch Statement Following the Federal Grand Jury Indictment Against Dylann Storm Roof" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. July 22, 2015. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  2. ^ Waters, Dustin; Berman, Mark (December 15, 2016). "Dylann Roof found guilty on all counts in Charleston church massacre trial". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  3. ^ Sack, Kevin; Blinder, Alan (December 15, 2016). "Dylann Roof Found Guilty in Charleston Church Massacre". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  4. ^ Sack, Kevin; Blinder, Alan (January 5, 2017). "No Regrets From Dylann Roof in Jailhouse Manifesto". The New York Times. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  5. ^ *Groll, Elias (June 18, 2015). "Was the Charleston Massacre an Act of Terrorism?". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Robles20June was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bernstein20June was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Dylann Roof Gets Death Penalty For Racially Motivated Charleston Church Shooting". VannDigital. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  9. ^ Kinnard, Meg (March 31, 2017). "Dylann Roof to plead guilty to state murder charges, avoiding second death penalty trial". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  10. ^ "Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof pleads guilty to state murder charges". The Guardian. April 10, 2017. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  11. ^ Miczek, Jason (April 10, 2017). "Dylann Roof: Charleston Church Shooter Gets Nine Life Sentences in State Case". NBC News. Reuters. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  12. ^ Kinnard, Meg (April 10, 2017). "Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof pleads guilty, awaits execution". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  13. ^ "United States v. Roof, 252 F. Supp. 3d 469 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.