Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Tuesday that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the suspect in the 2015 shooting at a Charleston, S.C., church.
“Following the department’s rigorous review process to thoroughly consider all relevant factual and legal issues, I have determined that the Justice Department will seek the death penalty,” she said in a statement. “The nature of the alleged crime and resulting harm compelled this decision.”
The federal proclamation comes three months after South Carolina prosecutors also said they would seek the death penalty for Roof’s killing nine people during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last June.
Solicitor General Scarlett Wilson said the prosecution chose to seek capital punishment as a result of its “many, many meetings” with the survivors and the victims’ families, even though some have expressed hesitance about the move.
“Some victims, some family members of victims, because of their faith, do not believe in the death penalty under any circumstances. Some believe the death penalty is just too easy,” Wilson said. “It’s not a religious consideration. It’s a philosophical consideration, a practical consideration.”
Roof was indicted on 33 violations of federal law in July. He is expected to be tried in federal court next January, but Justice officials have not announced a trial date yet. Lynch’s decision means Roof would face the death penalty in two different courtrooms.
