CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – The government has released a video which authorities say shows Dylann Roof confessing to the shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME church that took the lives of nine people.
The release of the video comes after jurors in Roof’s federal trial heard the chilling video confession in which Roof said he specifically targeted African Americans because of his perception of offenses they had committed across the country.
Roof told the agents he committed the slayings because he said blacks were raping white women and killing each other, and that what he did was much more “minuscule” than that.
As the video taped confession played in federal court, Roof, who faces 33 federal charges including hate crimes, was seen sitting very still and looking down at the defense table.
In the video, Roof is seen laughing at times in response to the FBI agents questions like when an agent reminded him that he left a woman alive to tell the story of what happened.
Roof tells agents that he had considered targeting a black festival, but did not because of security. In addition, Roof said attacking people doing illegal things like dealing drugs was too great a risk for his own safety.
Roof told investigators that he is a white supremacist, telling the FBI, “White people are superior.”
“I don’t think the white race is the dominant race,” Roof said.”I think it should be though.”
Roof went on to say he would like to reinstate segregation and felt it was not a bad system. He told investigators that his views were not shared with his friends and he did not talk about it with them.
Roof said he has never discussed his views on race with his family.
According to Roof, the Trayvon Martin case was what “woke him up.” The 2012 case happened in Florida in which George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin.
Roof told the investigators that he followed accounts of the case and it eventually led him to type the words “black-on-white crime” into a search engine.
During the video confession, agents are seen discussing photos of Roof; one of which shows him wearing a jacket with a patch of a South African flag, while another shows a patch of the Rhodesian flag.
The agents later discuss another photo of Roof which shows the number “1488.” Roof explained in the video that the “14” references securing the future of white children and the “88” stands for “Heil Hitler.”
Roof tells the agents that people should “do something” to stand up for whites not only in America, but Europe as well.
He tells the agents that the actions do not necessarily have to be violent.
At one point in the video, the agents ask Roof what he thinks should happen if a black man walked into a church and shot nine people.
Roof is seen not answering for a few moments with the agents indicating that the look on his face appears to show that he has an opinion.
Roof is then hear saying the shooter in that scenario should probably die as well.
“I am guilty. We all know I’m guilty,” Roof tells the investigators on the taped interview.
Roof described in detail the actions he took the night of the Mother Emanuel shooting, and spoke about how the victims dove under tables when the shots rang out.
In the video, Roof tells agents he chose the church in part because it is the oldest black church in the South.
He also says he knew there would be a small group of blacks there. Roof told the agents he had driven by the church before the shooting to inquire about worship services.
I read the tweets yesterday about this video but actually watching it is surreal. Someone who looks like a human being could actually do this and talk about it as though perpetrating a massacre is totally reasonable or “miniscule” to use Roof’s word?
By the time thirty minutes passed the cops had the noose tightened around his neck. Roof had been flawlessly Mirandized, had admitted to premeditation, provided a motive, and admitted to a hate crime. Roof was done, ready for the needle or life in a supermax prison cell. I can see why the judge advised the prosecution to allow the video to speak for itself.
I can’t imagine what they could possibly come up with in the penalty phase of this trial that would spare Roof the death penalty. I suspect that most people, except for those who oppose the death penalty, would just as soon see him doused with gasoline and set on fire right there in the courtroom.
This fucker needs to FRY
He was so sure the 2 FBI agents understood, empathized…and completely shared his mindset…
And who’s to say they don’t…especially the one who was doing most of the chatting…
His repeated use of ‘we’…and the chummy interaction and exchange might be argued away as some ‘interrogation tactic’…but let’s not kid ourselves…
I’d be curious to see the interrogation video for Otis Tyrone McCain..
Exactly. Did they ask him if he was hungry and wanted something to eat, where would he’d like to go. I’m giving them the side eye too.
I’m leaning toward “interrogation tactic”. The cops had to get a confession from a mass murderer before he got wise and asked for a lawyer. If Roof had the common sense that God gave a jack a$$, he would have kept his mouth shut and asked for a lawyer after being Mirandized. If he were an experienced criminal and had one iota of knowledge about the criminal justice system, that is exactly what he would have done.
But there he is, sitting in an interrogation room, just as dumb as a box of rocks. He’s more than willing to talk about what he’s done and why he did it simply because he is dying to talk about it and he can’t stop himself. The cops are aware of this and they play Roof like a fiddle. They know that he will just keep talking and talking as long as he isn’t challenged or sidetracked. The cops really only have one opportunity to get a confession, and Roof could have stopped this interrogation at any moment, but he was reveling in telling his story. And, in the first thirty minutes, Roof has sealed his own conviction and it is this confession that insures there will be no plea deals for life without parole and no insanity plea. These cop interrogators got the job done. If Roof somehow manages to escape the needle, and I don’t think he will, it won’t be because of these interrogators.
I don’t have the stomach to watch it.
Thanks for posting. It’s not going to be easy to listen to, but I think we must. White Supremists are terrorists. 😰
https://twitter.com/CynthiaRoldan/status/807336622987608065
Who radicalized #DylannRoof?
Who radicalized #DylannRoof?
Who radicalized #DylannRoof?
What he wrote are views of an old white racist!
His father…and any number of relatives, friends etc…
It’s the same mindset embraced by any number of white men who are raised to believe themselves superior …and in charge …and entitled…
Same mindset embodied by Donald Trump who thinks ‘blacks’ have it easy…that blacks are ‘given’ opportunities that white folks don’t ever get…
It’s that we are superior but we are shortchanged because undeserving ‘blacks’ are given what is rightfully ours…
It’s the mindset that’s driving the uncontainable glee of many white men since November 8…to them, the buffoon – no matter the dubious circumstances surrounding his questionable and unimpressive ‘win’….and no matter how much of a deadly threat he and his megalomania and that of the many super-narcissists that surround and directly and indirectly control and work him, poses to the world – especially as a pawn in the hands of the other white napoleon complex afflicted devil in Russia, will always be infinitely more desirable and preferable…
In the coming weeks we shall see some of those other high-profile men and women we assumed knew better – and others we know don’t, go out of their way…tripping all over themselves to be chums with the buffoon…we shall see them show up at the inauguration…if there is one…and subsequently at other events he presides over…pretending that it’s all about ‘unity’ and ‘patriotism’ …by folks who for 8 years never gave a damn – and even as they now conveniently invoke ‘patriotism’ and ‘unity’ …still don’t give a damn ….even as our democracy and sovereignty is threatened by amongst other things, the buffoon himself, and the Russian benefactor of the buffoon they all embrace because they all assume they can manipulate the buffoon to achieve each their own end…their own selfish agenda…with flattery and strokes to his ego…They talk ‘unity’ and ‘patriotism’, but turn a blind eye to what is disturbingly glaring facts…including that the rubbish ‘bipartisan’ Senate that was all ‘teary-eyed’ and patting each other on the back at the Joe Biden event the other day, won’t even have a routine vote to yea or nay the Supreme Court justice nominee that has been lingering for many months now…
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/807379012590964736
https://twitter.com/JoannaBlackhart/status/807335724060147712
https://twitter.com/hank259/status/807417483447701504
https://twitter.com/ChadKMills/status/807415754924707840
https://twitter.com/egavactip/status/807279450996015104
Absolutely EVIL