Roof charged with federal hate crimes

WASHINGTON —Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced federal hate crime charges Wednesday against the 21-year-old suspect in the Charleston church massacre, alleging that Dylann Roof sought to ignite racial tensions across the country by targeting Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church because of its local and historical significance.

The 33-count indictment charges Roof with nine murders, three attempted murders and multiple firearms offenses as part of a long-planned assault in which Roof allegedly singled out victims "because of their race and in order to interfere with their exercise of their religion.''

Federal charges, which follow a murder indictment lodged by a South Carolina grand jury, carry the prospect of a death sentence. But Lynch said no decision had been made on whether to seek the death penalty. The attorney general also said no decision had been reached on whether local or federal authorities would proceed first with Roof's prosecution. Traditionally, a federal prosecution would follow the local case.

Lynch suggested that federal investigators had gathered evidence that Roof's alleged plan of assault specifically included the iconic church because of its meaning to African Americans. She declined, though, to detail the extent of the government's evidence.

"On that summer evening, Dylann Roof found his targets, African Americans engaged in worship,'' Lynch said of the June 17 attack on a Bible study session. "The parishioners had Bibles. Dylann Roof had his 45-caliber Glock pistol and eight magazines loaded with hollow point bullets...Dylann Roof drew his pistol and opened fire on them.''

Lynch asserted that Roof followed an extremist ideology in pursuit of a "goal of increasing racial tensions throughout the nation and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs he believed African Americans had committed against white people.''

"To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African Americans because of their race,'' the attorney general 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's court-appointed attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Federal authorities began working with local investigators immediately after the shooting, and within hours of the attack Lynch launched the inquiry into whether the accused gunman was motivated by racial bias. The inquiry also included a review of whether Roof's alleged crimes constituted an act of domestic terrorism. During the Wednesday announcement, the attorney general said the alleged offenses represented "archetypal behavior'' for the application of the hate crime statute.  Associates of the suspect have asserted that Roof sought to ignite a race war.

Malcolm Graham, whose sister Cynthia Hurd was killed in the attack, said Wednesday that he was "grateful'' for the federal government's action.

"It is appropriate that the federal government brought hate crime charges because that's exactly what this was,'' Graham said. "My sister and eight others were killed simply because they were black.''

Since Roof's capture 14 hours after the rampage, investigators have recovered racially charged writings allegedly authored by the suspect and photographs showing Roof with the Confederate battle flag and the handgun allegedly used in the attack.

Earlier this month, FBI Director James Comey acknowledged that because of clerical error Roof should not have been able to purchase the gun used in the deadly shooting.

Comey said an arrest record detailing Roof's drug arrest earlier this year by the Columbia, S.C., Police Department was not included in materials reviewed by the FBI's National Instant Check System, which performs criminal background investigations on gun purchasers in 30 states. The contents of the record, the FBI director said, would have prohibited the April purchase of the .45-caliber handgun allegedly used in the attack.

Apart from the criminal case spawned by shooting, the alleged racial motivations prompted fresh examinations of public symbols of racial hatred in South Carolina and other communities throughout the South, leading to this month's removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Capitol grounds.

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