Charleston Shooting Suspect Roof To Be Indicted On Federal Hate Crime Charges

Multiple sources are saying Dylann Roof is to be indicted any time now in federal court for hate crime charges. I'm not sure whether I'm surprised it took them this long, or surprised that it didn't take them longer, to be honest.

DoJ is putting together a press conference where they will lay out the specific charges they intend to seek indictment for. I'll try and update with the charge list once it's published (or somebody else can).


www.npr.org...

Update - Roof indicted on 33 federal charges. Still no list of the charges.

From all the details released, he definitely should be.

Hate crime charges?

How ridiculous!

He should be charged with murder and whatever else they can stick him with, but "hate crime charges" is absurd.

originally posted by: introvert
Hate crime charges?

How ridiculous!

He should be charged with murder and whatever else they can stick him with, but "hate crime charges" is absurd.

Umm I think this is in ADDITION to murder.

If it is not then there is something seriously wrong.

a reply to: introvert

The federal charges are just that: federal charges.

They're not in lieu of the state charges.

a reply to: MoreBeer

I was pointing out the absurdity of additional charges based on "hate". To hate someone for whatever reason is not a crime. Existing laws cover the crime committed and an additional charge based on their motivation is absurd.

a reply to: introvert

Discrimination based off race isn't legal. Why shouldn't murdering somebody because of their race not be prosecuted for what it is?

It's not okay to deny employment to a black guy because he's black, but you can kill him because he's black and that's not any special kind of crime.

Oh, okay.

a reply to: Shamrock6

Murder is murder. Whether you kill someone based on their race or because you want what is in their pocket is irrelevant. It's still murder, is it not?

Discrimination based off race isn't legal

True, but we're not talking discrimination. We're talking about hate. Hate is perfectly legal.

a reply to: introvert

We're talking about committing a crime because of your hate. It doesn't appear that Roof had the mindset of "I wanna kill nine people, any nine will do." His mindset was "I wanna kill black people."

If you don't think punishment is deserved for that...meh.

Shouldn't he also be charged with an act of terrorism? But all of these charges will be useless because in the end he will be found mentally ill.

a reply to: introvert

With you on this one.
Killing nine people in a cold-blooded rampage should incur the heaviest sentence possible. Emotional states should have nothing to do with it.

Hate crimes charges are ridiculous in any case, as far as I'm concerned. Crime is crime, no matter the victim.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: introvert

We're talking about committing a crime because of your hate. It doesn't appear that Roof had the mindset of "I wanna kill nine people, any nine will do." His mindset was "I wanna kill black people."

If you don't think punishment is deserved for that...meh.

Again, hate is not illegal. The act of murder is. To charge someone with a "hate crime" is ridiculous. To charge them with murder is appropriate.

a reply to: introvert

Again, I'm aware hating isn't illegal. Committing a crime because you hate somebody is illegal.

Repeating it over and over again isn't going to change anything.

Write your congressman.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: introvert

Discrimination based off race isn't legal. Why shouldn't murdering somebody because of their race not be prosecuted for what it is?

It's not okay to deny employment to a black guy because he's black, but you can kill him because he's black and that's not any special kind of crime.

Oh, okay.

Discrimination with regards to a business is not legal. Discrimination itself is not possible to legislate or enforce therefore the Hate Crime moniker is a bit of an oxymoron. It is not illegal in the US to hate anyone.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: introvert

Again, I'm aware hating isn't illegal. Committing a crime because you hate somebody is illegal.

Repeating it over and over again isn't going to change anything.

Write your congressman.

That's all well and good. I was just commenting on how ridiculous and absurd "hate crime" charges are.

The Federal and State governments will both be prosecuting Roof for their respective charges at the same time. There are no hate crime charges at the state level. For those who are not understanding how he can be charged at both levels of government without violating double jeopardy - The State and Federal government are separate sovereigns.




As for charges -

Dylann Roof indicted on federal hate crime charges in Charleston church shooting

In federal court, Roof is charged with

* - 12 violations of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which went into effect at the start of President Barack Obama’s first term in 2009.
* - 12 counts under the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996.

The 12 counts under each law represent the nine people who were slain and the three survivors. Each of the nine murder counts under the church arson law make Roof eligible for the death penalty. The hate crimes do not.

South Carolina is one of 5 states who do not have hate crimes laws.

He also faces nine charges related to using a firearm to commit murder. “This is a very novel situation,” Miller Shealy, a professor at the Charleston School of Law who has served as a prosecutor in state courts and at the Justice Department. “This has never happened in South Carolina before, where a defendant has such infamous celebrity. ... This case is in the spotlight, and the feds want to make a statement.”

Because Federal hate crimes laws deal specifically with the targeting of a specific group, it falls into civil rights violations, making it federal jurisdiction. In this case because the state does not have hate crime laws, a double prosecution is occurring.

The prosecutions at both levels focus on the 9 people killed and an additional 3 who were shot but survived = 12.

Resources:
* - Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
* - Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996