Charleston Shooter Dylann Roof Sentenced to Death

Self-proclaimed White supremacist Dylann Roof has been unanimously sentenced to death for the massacre of nine African-American’s at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, S.C on June 17, 2015. It’s no surprise that the jury – comprised of nine white jurors and three black jurors- found him guilty, as he confessed to the killings and never claimed to be innocent. He also justified them, writing, “I have shed a tear of self-pity for myself. I feel pity that I had to do what I did in the first place. I feel pity that I had to give up my life because of a situation that should never have existed.”

A death sentence can never give back the lives that were taken, but it can ensure that no more lives are lost at his hands.#DylannRoof

— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) January 10, 2017

When the jury confirmed that he was, in fact, guilty in December, they stipulated that, of the 33 counts against him, eighteen had the possibility of a death sentence. To give the jury even more reason to come to the decision that they did, Roof denied being psychologically ill and hardly utilized his court-appointed lawyers to help his case at all.

Roof claimed he “was not raised in a racist home or environment” and has always acted alone – unusual, experts say, for a white supremacist. He is also much younger than most that enact violence against blacks. 

This poses the question: why and how did this unapologetic racist and white supremacist fall into the mindset he is in and why didn’t anyone notice before it was too late?

Reporters in the courtroom today described Roof as emotionless as the judge announced he would be receiving the death penalty. Under federal law, a jury cannot sentence one the death penalty unless there is a unanimous vote for it. Basically, if even one juror dissented, Roof would have had life in prison without parole. 

There are many mixed feelings on the Internet about the sentencing.

Dylann Roof sentenced to death.

Rot in hell. Forever.

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 10, 2017

There's no reason to celebrate Dylann Roof's sentence. White supremacy has not been eradicated, in fact it just found itself a martyr.

— #RIPBassemMasri ? (@Delo_Taylor) January 10, 2017

Some even believe that the death penalty was not the answer. “Sentencing him to death is not justice. It will not heal the deep racial wounds that continue to wreak violence in our nation.” Amnesty International U.S.A. (a strong advocate against the death penalty) wrote in a statement.