This undated image that appeared on Lastrhodesian.com, a website being investigated by the FBI in connection with Charleston, S.C., shooting suspect Dylann Roof, shows Roof posing for a photo while holding a Confederate flag. The website surfaced online Saturday, June 20, 2015, and also contained a hate-filled 2,500-word essay that talks about white supremacy and concludes by saying the author alone will need to take action. (Lastrhodesian.com via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
SOUTH CAROLINA, United States (AP) — A federal jury has sentenced Dylann Roof to death for killing nine black church members in a racially motivated attack in 2015.
Roof, who is white, faced either life in prison or execution for the slayings on June 17, 2015. The Justice Department says he is the first person to get the death penalty for federal hate crimes.
The jury reached a decision after about three hours of deliberations.
Roof was convicted last month of all 33 federal charges against him. During sentencing, he represented himself and told jurors he didn’t have a mental illness. But he didn’t offer any remorse or ask that his life be spared.
Roof told FBI agents he wanted to bring back segregation or perhaps start a race war with the slayings.