The biggest concern for both state and federal law enforcement will be making sure the case proceeds smoothly and results in a conviction.
Why no terrorism charges for roof.
It s possible that roof was not charged with terrorism because he acted alone rather than in concert or inspired by an organization that the federal government has formally designated as a terrorist group.
His actions fit the definition of terrorism and there aren t too many people who would argue about it.
As you know there is no specific domestic terrorism statute said lynch during the press conference to announce roof s indictment 11 fbi director comey said that i only operate in a legal framework and that it was hard to.
He was only charged with murder and hate cr.
Last week dylann roof was charged with 33 criminal acts including hate crimes and firearm violations for his killing spree at a historic african american church in charleston south carolina.
There is a very stringent and narrow definition of exactly what terrorism means and if your conduct is found to fall within that definition you should be aware that you could face some of the most serious federal charges that exist in the united states.
The department of justice charged dylann roof with murder in the commission of a hate crime on wednesday but not domestic terrorism.
However he wasn t legally charged with terrorism so he s not legally classified as a terrorist.
Turns out it isn t that simple.
Roof was hit with 33 criminal counts including hate crime charges.
Even before the charges were announced questions were raised about fbi director james comey s reluctance to call the attack an act of domestic terrorism especially.
Terrorism has become a major global problem and the united states takes terrorism extremely seriously.
In 2015 after white supremacist dylann roof shot nine black worshippers at a church in charleston south carolina for instance he was indicted on 33 counts some of them hate crimes but no domestic terrorism charges despite then attorney general loretta lynch describing the hate crimes as the original domestic terrorism.
Whether federal authorities decide to charge roof with a hate crime or an act of terrorism will depend on several overlapping factors the ease and efficiency of prosecuting the case the chief among them.
It s possible that roof was not charged with terrorism because he acted alone rather than in concert or inspired by an organization that the federal government has formally designated as a.
It turns out there was one major obstacle in charging roof with domestic terrorism.