Dylan Roof, who is accused of murdering nine black churchgoers last month in Charleston, South Carolina, has pleaded not guilty on more than 33 federal charges.
Dylann Roof, 21, wanted to plead guilty on all counts according to his lawyer.
However, his lawyers entered a not guilty plea because the government has not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Judge Bristow Marchant entered the not-guilty plea on all counts.
Dylann Roof, who is white, appeared in the courtroom shackled. He was silent except for a few “yes” responses to the judge’s inquiries.
The family members of victims of the June 17 attack also spoke briefly.
South Carolina House of Representatives has voted to take down the Confederate flag from its capitol grounds after a long and fractious debate.
The state House approval, by 93-27, follows a similar move in the Senate. After a final procedural vote, the bill will go to the governor for signature.
South Carolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley supports the removal of the Confederate flag.
The backlash against the emblem grew when a gunman killed nine black people at a Charleston church last month.
Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old charged with the killings, was pictured holding the Confederate flag.
The Confederate flag – used by the South in the American Civil War (1860-65) – is seen by some as an icon of slavery and racism while others say it symbolizes the United States heritage and history.
The banner could now be removed within days.
The House vote was taken on July 9 after 13 hours of debate.
During a heated session, dozens of amendments by Republicans aimed at slowing down passage of the bill were rejected.
Some Republicans argued the flag was part of US history that had been “hijacked” by racists.
The Confederate flag was originally the battle emblem of the southern states in the American Civil War which tried to break away.
South Carolina was the first state to leave the union in 1860. It restored the flag in the capitol grounds more than 50 years ago in protest at the civil rights movement.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has called for the removal of a Confederate flag from the state capitol’s grounds.
The Confederate flag, emblematic of the south during the US civil war, was embraced by Dylann Roof, the man accused of killing nine people in Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church last week.
Governor Nikki Haley called for the “removal of a symbol that divides us”, and urged the state legislature to act.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans says it will fight attempts to remove it.
Photo EP
The group says it symbolizes their heritage and history, not hate, and offered condolences to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the attack took place.
At a news conference, Nikki Haley acknowledged that point of view but said to many others it was a “deeply offensive symbol of brutal oppression”.
Hours later, Walmart announced it would no longer stock any products that display the Confederation flag.
The Confederate flag was originally the battle flag of the southern states in the American Civil War when they tried to break away to prevent the abolition of slavery.
Only the South Carolina’s state legislature may remove the flag, according to a deal hatched in 2000 when the flag was moved from the capitol’s dome to the memorial where it now stands.
A vote could take place this week and could bring to an end many years of bitter arguing about the prominent location of the flag.
The latest debate over it was prompted by the shooting of nine black worshippers during a bible study group at the church in Charleston.
Suspect Dylann Roof has been pictured holding the Confederate flag.
State leaders have held crisis meetings as they have tried to find a solution but some leading Republicans have called for action.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, has also called for the flag’s removal.
Like Nikki Haley, Lindsey Graham has reversed his position in light of the tragedy.
Others, including the Republican House Majority Leader Jay Lucas and Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, have also spoken out.
The Emanuel AME Church shooting has reignited an ongoing national debate over race relations.
President Barack Obama weighed in during a recent interview in which he used the N-word to make a point about racism in the US.
Barack Obama will deliver a eulogy at the funeral of one of the men killed – Clementa Pinckney, a personal friend of the president, who was state senator and pastor of the church.
Charleston Emanuel AME Church in which nine parishioners were shot dead by Dylann Storm Roof on June 17 is to reopen for services on Sunday, June 21.
Members of South Carolina’s African-American church met again on June 20 in the room where their friends died earlier this week.
Many more people are expected to attend the service at 09:00 AM on Sunday.
Meanwhile, police are investigating an online post, possibly by gunman Dylann Roof, that appears to outline his motivation for the attack.
One of those who attended Saturday’s meeting, Harold Washington, said the church’s doors would be open to all on Sunday.
“We’re gonna have people come by that we’ve never seen before and will probably never see again, and that’s OK,” Harold Washington said.
“It’s a church of the Lord – you don’t turn nobody down.”
Survivors say Dylann Roof spent close to an hour attending a church service on June 17 before opening fire.
Crowds gathered outside the historic church on Saturday to hear pastors from across the US lead prayers. Many travelled hundreds of miles from across the country to pay their respects.
A rally was also held in Charleston by the Black Lives Matter movement, which began after the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman over the killing of an unarmed African-American teenager, Trayvon Martin.
In South Carolina’s capital, Columbia, protests took place to demand the removal of the Confederate flag from the capitol building.
The flag was a symbol used by southern states in the civil war, when they tried to break away to prevent the abolition of slavery.
It is viewed by many as a sign of the white supremacy advocated by those states at the time.
The protest followed President Barack Obama’s remark that the flag belonged “in a museum”.
Protesters chanted “Take it down” and sang We Shall Overcome, an anthem of the black civil rights movement.
On June 19, South Carolina’s Republican state representative Doug Brannon told MSNBC that he planned to introduce legislation to remove the Confederate flag.
On June 20, images emerged on a website showing Dylann Roof posing with the Confederate flag. In others, he is seen burning the US flag and visiting a former slave plantation.
A collection of images of Charleston church gunman Dylann Roof posing with a gun have surfaced online.
Dylann Storm Roof, 21, shot dead nine people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday, June 17.
The pictures discovered on a website also show Dylann Roof burning the US flag and visiting a slave plantation.
In one image Dylann Roof is shown staring down the camera while sitting on a chair in camouflage trousers holding a gun.
It is unclear who posted the images on the site, which was found on June 20.
The website with a white supemacist manifesto was taken offline on the same day shortly after it was discovered. Internet records suggest its domain was registered in February to a Dylann Roof in Eastover, South Carolina, but it is unclear who was behind it.
It is not clear who wrote the words and who took the pictures, but the manifesto appears to trace the evolution of the author’s racist worldview and concludes with a section labeled “An Explanation”.
The manifesot reads: “I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country. We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.”
Data from the images show many of them were taken in April and May 2015.
Many of the photographs show Dylann Roof posing with the Confederate flag, a symbol used in the US south during the civil war when southern states tried to break away to prevent the abolition of slavery.
It is viewed by many as symbolizing the white supremacy advocated by those states at the time.
The website was discovered by two Twitter users who used a tool to find any domain names registered to Dylann Roof.
Dylan Roof was arrested on June 18 and charged with the murders of nine African-Americans at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in downtown Charleston.
Police said Dylann Roof spent an hour sitting with parishioners inside the church before opening fire on them.
Crowds gathered outside the historic church on June 20 to hear pastors from across the US lead prayers.
The Emanuel AME Church is due to reopen on Sunday, June 21, for a service at 09:00 local time.
President Barack Obama has condemned racism as “a blight” on the American society after white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine African-Americans in a South Carolina church.
Police are treating the killings at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17 as a hate crime.
Dylann Roof, 21, appeared in court on June 19 to face nine murder charges.
He showed no emotion as relatives of the victims addressed him directly.
“I forgive you” said one victim’s daughter, fighting back tears.
Speaking in at the US Conference of Mayors in San Francisco, President Barack Obama said: “The apparent motivations of the shooter remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together.
“We have made great progress, but we have to be vigilant because it still lingers.
“And when it’s poisoning the minds of young people, it betrays our ideals and tears our democracy apart.”
The president also praised the families of the victims for the forgiveness they had shown.
Barack Obama said it was “an expression of faith that is unimaginable but that reflects the goodness of the American people”.
He also called for a new debate on gun control, and pushed Congress to follow public opinion.
“It’s not enough for us to express sympathy; we have to take action,” the president said.
A previous proposed bill banning assault weapons failed to win backing in the Senate.
At a Charleston sports arena, thousands gathered on June 19 to remember the victims with prayers. They joined hands to sing We Shall Overcome.
Ahead of the vigil, Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley said: “A hateful person came to this community with some crazy idea he’d be able to divide, but all he did was unite us and make us love each other even more.”
A steady stream of people also brought flowers to place at a memorial in front of the church.
Dylann Roof family earlier released a statement through their lawyer.
“Words cannot express our shock, grief and disbelief as to what happened that night. We are devastated and saddened by what occurred,” the family wrote.
“We have all been touched by the moving words from the victims’ families offering God’s forgiveness and love in the face of such horrible suffering.”
In court in Charleston on June 19, Dylann Roof spoke to confirm his name, age and address and said he was unemployed.
Then relatives were invited by the judge to come forward and speak.
Charleston church shooting gunman Dylann Roof has been charged with nine counts of murder and one weapons possession charge, police say.
Dylann Roof, 21, shot dead nine people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17.
He is due to make his first court appearance on June 19.
Police are treating the killings at the Emanuel AME Church as a hate crime.
Dylann Roof was arrested the following day more than 200 miles away in North Carolina and then flown back to Charleston.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has said Dylann Roof should face execution.
“We will absolutely want him to have the death penalty,” Nikki Haley told NBC News.
Dylann Roof’s first court hearing is set for 14:00 local time, but it is likely he will appear via a video feed and not in person.
The victims of the shooting included a state senator.
President Barack Obama, speaking on June 18, described the event as yet another tragedy caused by guns in society.
The city’s mayor called the massacre an act of “pure, pure concentrated evil”.
An acquaintance of Dylann Roof said that the 21-year-old had complained that “blacks were taking over the world”.
Joey Meek said that he and Dylann Roof got drunk a few weeks ago, and his friend said “someone needed to do something about it for the white race”.
After the shooting, Dylann Roof absconded to North Carolina, where he was arrested in the town of Shelby – over 200 miles away from Charleston – on June 18.
Police located the suspect after receiving a tip from the public.
Local reports say that a florist who was late to work noticed Dylann Roof’s distinctive haircut and alerted police.
“I saw the pictures of him with the bowl cut. I said, <<I’ve seen that car for some reason.>> I look over, and it’s got a South Carolina tag on it,” florist Debbie Dills told the Shelby Star.
Debbie Dills followed Dylann Roof for 25 miles until police made the arrest.
Charleston officials are planning a prayer vigil for Friday evening, June 19.
South Carolina church shooting suspect Dylann Roof is due to make his first court appearance.
Dylann Storm Roof, 21, is suspected of shooting dead nine people at the Emanuel AME Churche in Charleston.
He was detained more than 200 miles away in North Carolina and flown back to Charleston.
Police are treating the killings as a hate crime.
Prayer vigils have been held in churches in Charleston and across the US for the six women and three men who died in the June 17 shooting.
Churches in Charleston were full to overflowing on June 18 as prayer services were held. Some services were held outdoors.
Hundreds gathered outside the Emanuel AME Church, where the attack took place, to pay tribute.
Dylann Roof is due to appear in court via video link for a bail hearing on June 19. He is being held at a detention centre in the Charleston area, the county sheriff’s office said.
He was detained on June 18 after police acting on a tip-off stopped his car in Shelby, North Carolina. He waived his right to extradition and was flown back to South Carolina.
Police had earlier released CCTV images of the shooting suspect and the dark saloon car he had driven away in.
Dylann Roof’s social media profile suggests he was interested in white supremacy.
His Facebook page shows a picture of him wearing a jacket with flag-patches from apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia – the name of Zimbabwe during the era of white minority rule. He also had Confederate flag plate on his car.
Dalton Tyler, who said he was a friend of Dylann Roof, told ABC News the suspect had spoken in support of racial segregation and had said “he wanted to start a civil war”.
It emerged on Thursday that Dylann Roof had sat in a Bible study group at the church for nearly an hour before launching his attack.
“The suspect entered the group and was accepted by them, as they believed that he wanted to join them in this Bible study,” Charleston County Coroner Rae Wilson said.
She said he then became “very aggressive and violent”.
Eight people died at the scene and one person died later in hospital. There were three survivors.
The victims were named as Pastor Clementa Pinckney, 41; Cynthia Hurd, 54; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Ms Singleton, 45; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethel Lance, 70; Susie Jackson, 87; the Rev Daniel Simmons Sr, 74; and DePayne Doctor.
President Barack Obama said the killings again raised the issue of US gun ownership, saying: “At some point, we as a country have to reckon with the fact that this type of massacre does not happen in other advanced countries.”
The Emanuel church is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church in the US south. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King gave a speech there in April 1962.
Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof had recently been given a weapon as a birthday present, according to the gunman’s uncle.
Dylann Roof’s uncle, Carson Cowles, told Reuters that Dylann’s father gave him a .45-calibre handgun.
Carson Cowles said he tried to mentor his 21-year-old nephew, who had no job or driver’s license, but Dylann Roof was not receptive to this idea.
Describing a phone call around the time of Dylann Roof’s birthday in April, Carson Cowles said: “I actually talked to him on the phone briefly for just a few moments and he was saying well I’m outside target practicing with my new gun.”
Dylann Roof’s jacket in a photo on his profile page prominently bears the flags of South Africa and Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, from when the African nations were ruled by the countries’ white minorities.
Richard Cohen, president of Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, says Dylann Roof wasn’t known to his organization, and it is unclear whether he is connected to any of the 16 white supremacist organizations SPLC has identified as operating in South Carolina.
He says Dylann Roof appears to be a “disaffected white supremacist” based on his Facebook page.
According to the suspect’s Facebook page, he went to White Knoll High School in Lexington, South Carolina, a two-hour drive from Charleston. It says he lives in the state capital Columbia.
A woman who answered a mobile phone belonging to his mother, Amelia Roof, declined to comment to Reuters.
“We will be doing no interviews ever,” she said, before hanging up.
Dylann Roof’s childhood friend, Joey Meek, alerted the FBI when he saw the grey top he was wearing, according to Meek’s mother, Kimberly Kozny.
She told the Associated Press that Roof had worn that sweatshirt over to their house many times as they played Xbox videogames in recent weeks.
Dylann Roof reportedly displayed a Confederate flag on his car license plate.
Court records in South Carolina show he was facing a drug charge and had previously been arrested for trespassing.
Police identified Dylann Roof after receiving tip-offs from friends and family who claimed to recognize him in surveillance footage from the church.
Officials circulated the image, appealing for help finding a suspect in a grey sweatshirt, blue jeans and Timberland boots.
The DoJ says it is investigating the shooting at the Emanuel AME Church as a hate crime.
Dylann Roof, who is suspected of killing nine people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, has been arrested.
Police said 21-year-old Dylann Roof, from Lexington, South Carolina, was detained during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina.
Dylann Roof is reported to have sat in on a bible study meeting for a full hour before opening fire on the group.
Six women and three men, including the church pastor, were killed. A hate crimes investigation has been launched.
President Barack Obama said he and his wife had known several members of the Emanuel AME Church, including the pastor, Clementa Pinckney.
Barack Obama called the church a “sacred place” in the history of Charleston and spoke of his confidence that the congregation and the community would “rise again”.
He also raised the issue of gun ownership, saying “communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times”.
“At some point, we as a country have to reckon with the fact that this type of massacre does not happen in other advanced countries,” the president said.
The weekly bible study meeting was under way in the church on Calhoun Street when the shooting unfolded at about 21:00 local time on Wednesday, June 17.
Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said that when police arrived at the scene eight people were already dead in the church and one other person died later in hospital. There were three survivors, he added.
Police released images from surveillance cameras showing a suspect they described as white and clean shaven with a slender build, entering the building an hour before the shooting.
The man was later seen driving away in a black four-door saloon car.
Police and officials were quick to call it a hate crime, and the DoJ said it would open a federal hate crimes investigation.
Speaking after the arrest, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said they would be “looking at all of the facts, all of the motivations” to determine the best way to prosecute any case.
The killings have sent shockwaves through a community that has already experienced heightened racial tension in recent months.
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