RantCrush Top 5: January 11, 2017

Yesterday afternoon, the jury came to the unanimous decision to sentence Dylann Roof to death. After deliberating for three hours, the 10 men and two women on the jury concluded that he deserved the death penalty for all 18 counts. Roof had testified that he still felt as if he had had no choice but to kill the nine church members who he shot in Charleston in 2015. Judge Richard Gergel was scheduled to formally announce the sentence this morning.

Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof will become first federal hate crime defendant to be sentenced to death https://t.co/zo4yHD58VR pic.twitter.com/S7nhiFggFL

— CNN (@CNN) January 11, 2017

During the trial, Roof insisted on representing himself, refused to present any evidence of his mental health that could potentially have spared his life, and never showed any signs of remorse. Yesterday, he seemed to suggest that the jury should spare his life, but very vaguely: “From what I’ve been told, I have a right to ask you to give me a life sentence, but I’m not sure what good that will do anyway,” he said. “But what I will say is only one of you has to disagree with the other jurors.” Roof is the first person to receive the death penalty on federal hate crime charges.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.