January 1, Judges uphold death sentence for Dylann Roof who killed 9 black churchgoers in hate crime

In Virginia, a unanimous panel of three judges in a federal appeals court upheld Dylann Roof’s conviction and death sentence for the 2015 killings of nine black churchgoers.

The judges of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond rejected the notion that Roof should’ve been declared incompetent to stand trial.

Roof is the first person in the US sentenced to death for a hate crime.

“Dylann Roof murdered African Americans at their church, during their Bible-study and worship. They had welcomed him. He slaughtered them. He did so with the express intent of terrorizing not just his immediate victims at the historically important Mother Emanuel Church, but as many similar people as would hear of the mass murder,” the judges wrote.

“No cold record or careful parsing of statutes and precedents can capture the full horror of what Roof did. His crimes qualify him for the harshest penalty that a just society can impose,” the panel wrote.

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Judges Uphold The Death Sentence For Dylann Roof Who Killed 9 Black Churchgoers