US Justice department seeks rare death penalty for Charleston shooter

Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire on 17 June 2015 during a Bible study session at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The killings shook the country and intensified the debate about race in America.

“The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision,” attorney general Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

The Guardian reports that he is facing33 federal charges, including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses. Authorities have accused him of holding white supremacist views, saying he targeted the victims because of their race.

His federal trial had been delayed while US prosecutors decided whether to seek the death penalty. Defense attorneys have said he would plead guilty if he did not face the possibility of execution.

He also faces the state death penalty if convicted of the shooting.

Federal prosecutors rarely seek the death penalty against defendants. Since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988, about three people a year on average have been sentenced to death, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre, a non-profit group in Washington.

However, the government said in court documents it would prove a number of factors that would justify a death sentence, saying Roof had planned the killing and showed a lack of remorse.

Joseph Meek, Roof’s 21-year-old friend who pleaded guilty last month to federal charges related to the shooting, said Roof had planned the shooting for six months and wanted to start a race war, according to the Guardian.