Roof is charged with allegedly murdering nine black people in a racially-motived attack during a bible study at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015.
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The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office report said Roof, 21, was in the shower when he was beaten around 7:45 a.m. Thursday at the Charleston County jail.
According to an incident report, Roof was attacked by Dwayne Stafford, who is now being held in the jail on assault, drug, and robbery charges from January 2015. Roof told the Charleston County Sheriff’s Department through his lawyers that he did not wish to press charges.
Officials are now investigating how Stafford was able to get out of his cell to reach Roof, given that only one prisoner is allowed out at a time.
“The detention officer responded quickly and separated the two”, he said.
“We, obviously, are looking into the issue of the door lock and what may have failed there”, Cannon said.
Roof is being held in solitary confinement and is normally escorted by two detention officers for recreation time and showers. He was medically examined before being returned to his cell. Roof isn’t planning on pressing charges against Stafford. The other inmate faces assault charges. Watson is awaiting trial on first-degree assault and strong armed robbery charges. He stated that he wanted to begin a race war and a racist online manifesto has been attributed to Roof; pictures were found of Roof with the Confederate Flag, Nazi symbols, and a handgun.
Roof’s attorneys argued in USA court papers filed this week that he should not face the federal death penalty, which they deemed “cruel and unusual punishment” as well as unconstitutional – a stance consistent with Delaware’s recent ruling that federal executions have no constitutional basis. Roof will be facing the death penalty at his trial.
The federal government has charged Roof with hate crimes and other offences in the shootings. His federal trial is set for November.
Roof’s defense attorneys have filed a legal challenge to the us death penalty, hoping prosecutors would decide not to pursue it in their client’s case, CNN reported.
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His attorneys are challenging federal prosecutors’ intentions to seek the death penalty against him, filing a motion on Monday that the death penalty and federal death penalty law are unconstitutional, according to the Associated Press.
