Lawyer for Tsarnaev appointed for accused church shooter

Roof, a white man from outside Columbia, is accused of fatally shooting nine black church members at Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston during a Bible study class on June 17.

Yet the grand jury decision prompted criticism that Mr. Roof was not actually facing terrorism charges, and once again stirred up the debate on why the numerous attacks in the U.S. carried out by lone gunmen, usually of Caucasian ethnicity, were not linked to terror, whereas incidents involving Muslim attackers were immediately labelled as such.

The 33-count indictment is in addition to South Carolina state murder and attempted murder charges against the 21-year-old suspect, who could face the death penalty if convicted.

Several days after the attack, Roof appeared in photos waving Confederate flags, desecrating U.S. flags and even had a manifesto where he noted his desire to incite a race war. State prosecutors have not said whether they’ll seek the death penalty.

Federal authorities on Wednesday confirmed he had also written a manuscript opposing integration and using racial slurs against blacks.

“The parishioners had Bibles”, Ms Lynch said.

Roof, Lynch said, had for several months prior to the shootings conceived a goal of “increasing racial tensions throughout the nation and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs he believed African-Americans had committed against white people”.

Nine murder charges and three attempted murder charges were also filed under another federal law that makes attacking someone based on their religion a hate crime. “Dylann Roof had his 45-caliber Glock pistol and eight magazines loaded with hollow point bullets”, Lynch said.

Lynch said the church had welcomed Roof into its Bible-study group.

“He was looking for the type of church and the type of parishioners whose death would in fact draw great notoriety for his racist views”, she said on Wednesday. The federal prosecutor said he doesn’t know who will take the lead in the case, but he said both offices are working closely together to prosecute Roof.

Hate crime cases are often challenging for the government because it must prove that a defendant was primarily motivated by a victim’s race or religion as opposed to other factors frequently invoked by defense attorneys, such as drug addiction or mental illness.

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