Authorities have discovered that Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof wrote at least two additional manifestos prior to claiming the lives of nine Emmanuel AME members when he suddenly opened fire during a bible study session last June.
According to NBC News, two additional white supremacist manifestos were found in Roof’s car and jail cell. Although few additional details about the two new documents have been made available, it is likely that the language found in the writings will mimic that of the original online manifesto that was believed to have been written by Roof and was found by investigators in the days after he was taken into custody following the shooting.
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The earlier manifesto hears Roof proclaim his hatred for Blacks, Jews, Latinos and the American flag, while asserting his “white pride.” In one instance, Roof specifically referenced the Trayvon Martin’s shooting and made it clear that he felt murderer George Zimmerman was justified in his actions. “The event that truly awakened me was the Trayvon Martin case, he wrote. “I kept hearing and seeing his name, and eventually I decided to look him up. I read the Wikipedia article and right away I was unable to understand what the big deal was. It was obvious that Zimmerman was in the right.”
Recent court documents filed in connection to the case against Roof detail the evidence proving his strong ties to white supremacy.
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“The evidence in this case also demonstrates that defendant Roof’s identification with white supremacy increased in the months leading up to his crimes, including to travel to such race-relevant destinations as the site of his crimes and locations that have connections to the antebeullum and Confederate eras,” the court documents read.
Jury selection for Dylann Roof ‘s trial is set to begin this November. His attorneys have argued that prosecutors seeking the death penalty in the case would be ‘unconstitutional.’ He will face a total of 33 federal charges including nine counts of using a firearm to commit murder and 24 counts of civil rights violations.