Judge Marchant then entered the not guilty plea on all counts.
Advertisement
The accused, Dylann Roof, was seen in shackles and gray striped prison garb at his first appearance at the US District Court in Charleston since his federal indictment on July 22. He did not speak beyond answering “Yes ” to the judge’s questions.
Dylann Roof, 21, is accused of killing nine people last month at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina.
In addition to the murder charges and the hate crime charges, Roof has also been indicted on three attempted murder charges and one count of possessing a deadly weapon during a violent crime.
Dylann Roof enters a court hearing in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, July 16, 2015.
Roof faces 33 federal charges and is charged with numerous state crimes. He is expected to be arraigned on those charges Friday, and a federal judge on Wednesday appointed a third attorney to represent Roof on those charges.
Roof’s tentative trial date in state court is next summer.
Their tearful statements, coming just two days after the slayings, helped spark intense soul-searching in the United States over race relations and led to the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina capitol grounds. He singled out the almost 200-year-old church known as “Mother Emanuel” because of its historical significance in the African-American community, Lynch said.
Federal officials previously said the shootings meet the legal requirements for a hate crime and that federal charges were likely. Roof stood still as the family members forgave him.
Advertisement
Roof was arrested in North Carolina the day after the mass shooting that took the life of Emmanuel’s chief pastor who was also a state senator. Sharonda Singleton, DePayne Middleton Doctor, and Daniel Simmons Sr.; and Cynthia Hurd, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lance, and Susie Jackson.
