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Daniel Roof Case

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Daniel Roof Case
I. INTRODUCTION On the evening of June 17, 2015, Daniel Roof, a white 21-year-old, entered the Emanuel AME Church with the intent to start a “race war.” Roof spent nearly an hour at the historic African-American church before opening fire and killing nine innocent people attending their weekly bible study. Upon the learning of this tragedy, details about who exactly Roof was were quickly released via various media outlets. Not only was Roof’s Facebook photo of him wearing a jacket with apartheid-era South African and Rhodesian flag patches, but friends and neighbors also revealed just how deep Roof’s hate for blacks, Jews, and Hispanics really was. Evidence also indicates Roof’s deadly plan was 6 months in the making. Based on …show more content…
This federal hate crimes law prohibits using a dangerous weapon to cause bodily injury, or attempting to do so, on the basis of race or color. The Shepard Byrd Act was enacted specifically to vindicate the unique harms caused by racially motivated violence. Roof is also charged with nine murders and three attempted murders under a second federal hate crimes statute that prohibits the use or threat of force to obstruct any person’s free exercise of their religious beliefs. Finally, Roof has been charged with multiple counts of using a firearm in the commission of these racially motivated murders and attempted …show more content…
Remarkably, even racially motivated hate crimes occurring at the state level go uncharged. This Note will focus solely on federal hate crime legislation as it pertains to racially motivated hate crimes. While there is currently federal legislation in place, it should be modified to mandate the charging of hate crimes when sufficient evidence is present to indicate an offense was committed because of racially motivated bias. Part II provides a brief history of hate crimes, hate crime legislation, and the need for hate crime legislation in America. Part III analyzes data related to the reporting and statistics of racially motivated hate crimes. Part IV examines state hate crime legislation, including an analysis on some early United States Supreme Court opinions related to state hate crime legislation. Part V of this Note looks federal hate crime legislation. Finally, Part VI lays out this paper’s proposed amendment to our current federal hate crime legislation, and explains why modifying the current federal hate crime law to mandate the prosecution of hate crimes at the federal level, will positively influence hate crime legislation at the state level.
II. BACKGROUND
a. What is a Hate
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