Dylann Roof seems to be all but begging jurors to sentence him to death.
The 22-year-old self-professed White supremacist was adamant about showing no remorse for the nine lives he took when he opened fire during an Emanuel AME Church bible study session in Charleston, South Carolina last year. Appearing before the jurors who will decide his fate during the second day of his sentencing hearing, Roof made sure everyone listening knew he makes no apologies for his actions.
“I would like to make it crystal clear I do not regret what I did,” Roof told the jurors, as several women reportedly exited the courtroom in disgust. “I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed.”
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The hate-filled gunman also made sure to dispel previous notions that called his mental competency into question during his address to the court, according to the NY Times.
Additionally, Roof continued to maintain that he does not suffer from any mental illness and stated that allowing court-appointed attorneys to mount a defense based on that false claim would have been deceiving.
“There’s nothing wrong with me psychologically,” Roof said. “The point is that I’m not going to lie to you, not by myself or through somebody else.” Roof’s request to represent himself during the sentencing hearing was approved in late 2016, while he confirmed that he’d be physically present for the hearing during a pre-trial meeting last week.
In a portion of his manifesto, Roof said he believed Black people to be “the biggest problem in America,” and admitted that Trayvon Martin’s death motivated him to carry out the horrific attack at Emanuel AME Church.
During his federal trial last month, it was also revealed that Roof researched several Black churches to target prior to the shooting. On December 15, 2016, Roof was found guilty on all charges connected to the shooting, including nine counts of hate crimes resulting in death.
He faces the death penalty or life in prison.
