Dylann Roof, who is accused of killing nine people in a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last month, was indicted Wednesday on federal hate crime charges, law enforcement officials told The New York Times. Roof has also been charged by the state with nine counts of murder, which could earn him the death penalty.
Federal officials are intervening in the case because South Carolina does not have hate crime laws. The Justice Department could also charge Roof with killing someone while obstructing religious freedom, which is likewise punishable by the death penalty.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Art review: Diane Arbus: ConstellationFeature Park Avenue Armory, New York City, through Aug. 17
-
July fiction: Summers to rememberFeature Featuring the latest summer-themed novels from Darrow Farr, Lucas Schaefer, and more
-
Why are flash floods in Texas so deadly?Today's Big Question Over 100 people, including 27 girls at a summer camp, died in recent flooding
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
