Dylann Roof, who was charged over the massacre of nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston last June, was assaulted by a fellow inmate yesterday. News reported that Roof sustained bruises to his back and face, but ultimately did not suffer any serious in juries.
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Roof has been housed at the Charleston County detention centre since being returned from North Carolina a day after the killings on 17 June 2015 of nine parishioners during a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church.
The inmate, Dwayne Stafford, 25, struck Roof in the face and body with his hands before officers broke up the fight at the Charleston County Detention Center, Cannon said.
An incident report reveals Roof had been showering at the time of the attack. The other detention officer had departed the unit to take a break. His state trial is set to begin next year.
Stafford was originally booked into the facility January 3, 2015 on charges of providing false information to a police officer, strong armed robbery and first degree assault and battery. Investigations of how the incident occurred are ongoing, as jail doors are supposed to be locked when Roof is moved around the facilities for his own safety, due to the racially charged nature of his crime. According to Sheriff Cannon, he is not sure if Stafford attacked Roof because Roof was white or if some other motive was the cause of the assault. “We do things day in, day out, and they become routine and as a result of that, it’s sometimes easy to become complacent”.
“I can’t speculate”, he said.
Roof is a known and confessed racist and has even talked about his desire to start a race war. He also faces federal hate crime charges, for which he faces the death penalty. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is expected to provide more information at a news conference this afternoon.
His federal trial is set for November while his state trial is set for next year.
Roof’s attorneys argued in US court papers filed this week that he should not face the federal death penalty, which they deemed “cruel and unusual punishment” and, as a result, unconstitutional.
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Attorneys representing Roof in the federal case have asked a judge to declare the federal death penalty charge unconstitutional.
