Dylann Roof may have been silent throughout the Charleston shooting trial, but his handwritten notes showed he believed it was unfair for him to listen to stories about the people he killed.
The Washington Post reports the second day of the penalty phase of Roof’s trial ended Thursday (Jan. 4) with jurors learning more about the mind of Roof through another hateful journal entry the 22-year-old penned behind bars. The writings stemmed from the early weeks of Roof’s time in prison when he was arrested for the murder of nine African-American parishioners at the historical Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME).
Presented by federal prosecutors, Roof’s entries referred to Adolf Hitler as a saint and called it “not fair” to hear a significant amount of emotional testimony from the family members and friends of the victims. “If I don’t present any mitigation evidence, the victim-impact evidence will take over the whole sentencing trial and guarantee that I get the death penalty,” Roof wrote.
He also showed bravado for his behavior, hoping he would “take action” for white people. “I would rather live imprisoned knowing I took action for my race than to live with the torture of sitting idle,” Roof wrote. “It isn’t up to me anymore. I did what I could do. I’ve done all I can do. I did what I thought would make the biggest wave, and now the fate of our race sits in the hands of my brothers who continue to live freely.”
The white supremacist went on express fixations of films like The Notebook, Pride and Prejudice and 12 Years A Slave. “Even though it is anti-white and unrealistic,” Roof wrote of the 2013 film, “the cinematography is beautiful.”
Roof was found guilty of the murders and several federal hate crimes last month. The jury will now decide if Roof should be given the death penalty or face live in prison without parole.