Dylann Roof, 22, was assaulted in the shower at the Charleston County Detention Center, where he is now in solitary confinement for the killing of nine black churchgoers in Charleston. Roof, who is awaiting trial in the Charleston church shootings in which nine black church parishioners were killed in 2015, was punched by a black inmate at the jail.
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“We are looking at it internally, at the very least we have complacency”, Cannon said.
The inmate Dwayne Marion Stafford, who is black, caused bruising to Roof’s face and back. In the incident, an inmate was able to get out of his cell, one officer had taken a break, and the other officer had been called to a cell over a request for toilet paper. Cannon said Roof is not pressing charges. Initially we were told Stafford would face an assault and battery charge but Roof informed detectives through his attorney that he wll not pursue any criminal charges against Stafford. Detention officers stopped the scuffle.
Stafford is being held in jail on assault, drug and robbery charges from January 2015.
Roof allegedly uttered racial epithets before attacking worshipers last June at the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
When asked if Stafford’s assault was racially motivated, Cannon said he could not speculate on the issue.
Roof is facing the death penalty in both the federal and state court systems.
He goes to federal trial in November, with a state trial set to begin next year. He also faces federal hate crime charges, for which he faces the death penalty.
In this Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016 photo released by the Charleston County jail, inmate Dwayne Stafford poses for a photo.
His state and federal attorneys have said he is willing to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence.
“This court should declare the FDPA (Federal Death Penalty Act) unconstitutional and order that this case proceed as a non-capital case”, the lawyers said in the motion.
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Maj. Eric Watson of the Charleston County sheriff’s office said Roof was medically evaluated and returned to his cell, the Associated Press reports.
