White Supremacist Dylann Roof Is Guilty Of Charleston Murders

John Pinckney (C) father of Emanuel Church shooting victim Rev Clementa Pinckney, leaves the Charleston Federal Courthouse after Dylann Roof was found guilty on 33 counts.Reuters

White supremacist Dylann Roof was found guilty yesterday of shooting dead nine black worshippers at a church in South Carolina last year.

The jurors took just two hours to convict the 22-year-old on all 33 counts he faced. 

Roof took part in a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston before drawing his weapon and opening fire. He told police he wanted to start a race war and that he hated black people.

Among his victims was state senator Rev Clementa Pinckney. 

Roof's crimes shocked the nation and led to one of President Barack Obama's most significant speeches on race. He sang Amazing Grace at a memorial service to the victims.

Survivor Felicia Sanders said after the verdict that Roof was a coward because he had refused to look at her as she gave evidence.

She said she would always remember her murdered friends: "I wear a smile, because if you look at the pictures of all nine, they're smiling."

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Centre, said: "Dylann Roof represents the modern face of domestic terrorism: the extremist who acts alone after being radicalized online.

"When Roof searched 'black on white crime,' he found a flood of white supremacist propaganda. Once hard to access, that propaganda is now just a few keystrokes away from anyone, anywhere, who has access to the internet. Counter-narratives that expose the lies behind the propaganda often don't make the first page of search results. It's a problem we must address.

"Charleston is still healing from Roof's horrific, racially motivated crime, as is our nation. Our hearts go out to the victims' families who will forever mourn the loss of their loved ones."

Charleston mayor John Tecklenberg said: "Today, Dylann Storm Roof was held accountable for the horrific acts of evil he committed last June in the hallowed walls of Mother Emanuel church. We can only hope that this verdict brings some measure of comfort to the survivors and families, who remain in our prayers and whose extraordinary faith and grace have so moved us all."

Roof will find out next month whether he will receive the death penalty.