Dylann Roof Declared Competent for Trial, Jury Selection Is Scheduled

It’s a go. Dylann Roof will face trial in the deaths of nine people at the Mother Emanuel AME Church. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel declared him competent on Friday, after a two-day, closed-door hearing. Jury selection will begin Monday.

Prosecutors say Roof, 22, walked into the church in June, 2015, and opened fire. Every victim was black, and racism reportedly motivated the killings. A middle school friend, Joseph C. Meek Jr., told The Associated Press that Roof supported racial segregation, and said “blacks were talking over the world.”

Roof faces multiple charges, including obstruction of religion, and nine counts of murder. In August, 2015, his lawyer advised him not to plead guilty unless prosecutors took the death penalty off the table.

[Screengrab via ABC]