Roof also explained at least some of his motives. He said he felt he “had to” commit the crime because “no one else was brave enough,” and explained to the agents that he believed white people “already are the second-class citizens.”
Roof had chillingly confessed to investigators nearly 18 months earlier and revealed his purpose in a blatantly racist manifesto that he published online. His choice of targets seemed intensely premeditated — he scouted the church half a dozen times — although he also researched other black churches and a festival elsewhere in South Carolina before settling on Charleston because, he wrote, it is the “most historic city in my state.”
Roof said he had been inspired after he searched on Google for the phrase “black on white crime” in reaction the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was black, by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
“That was it,” Roof said.
Asked if he believed those he shot were bad people, Roof said almost incredulously, “They’re in church, they weren’t criminals or anything.”
Roof is also facing separate murder charges brought by the state of South Carolina, which is also seeking the death penalty. That trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 17.