The man accused of killing nine people attending a Bible study class in a historic black church in Charleston last month will stand trial next July, a judge declared on Thursday.
In his second court appearance since his arrest nearly one month ago, Dylann Roof, 21, was clad in a gray-striped prison jumpsuit and remained largely still while shackled next to his public defender during the 30-minute hearing.
The court heard arguments on Thursday about whether a gag order and a ban on the release of documents related to his case should be lifted.
The South Carolina Press Association has challenged a decision by Judge JC Nicholson last week to issue a gag order on potential trial participants, and to seal information, including 911 calls, coroner’s reports and witness statements, from public view.
Nicholson stated in an order last week that Roof’s right to a fair trial could be at stake, but the press association has argued that there is substantial public interest in the case, and the judge’s order is too broad.
The judge on Thursday extended the gag order in Roof’s case until next Wednesday, giving the victims’ families time to ask for a further extension. Nicholson cited concern about “any graphic pictures of the victims dead on the floor of the church or 911 calls that might have recorded the sounds of victims”. If no motions are filed by Wednesday, the gag order will expire at 5pm, according to a Charleston Post & Courier reporter.
Roof was arrested one day after the shootings at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston on 17 June. Authorities have described the killings as racially motivated, and have said Roof was intent on starting a “race war”. Roof has been indicted on nine murder counts, three attempted murder charges and for the use of a firearm during a violent crime in the shooting.
A grand jury had previously indicted Roof on the nine murder charges, including the killing of the state senator Rev Clementa Pinckney. The indictments were presented to the defense on Thursday.
Last week, it emerged that a clerical error made by a jail clerk when entering information about Roof’s drug arrest facilitated Roof’s purchase of a gun. He should not have been able to purchase the gun. FBI director James Comey has promised a review into the system failure which allowed Roof to buy the gun he allegedly used to kill the nine people.
The suspect’s last appearance in court was at his bond hearing on 19 June. Roof appeared via videolink from the Charleston detention center where he was being held in isolation, as the families of the nine victims stood up one by one in the courtroom, offering their forgiveness. Roof said few words, and stood still and expressed no emotion during the hearing.
Roof was linked to a manifesto several days after the massacre, which was filled with racist diatribe about black, Hispanic and Jewish people. The manifestoalluded to the 17 June massacre. Roof was also pictured with the Confederate flag in several photos found on the same website as the manifesto.
In the wake of the shooting, South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and civil rights and political leaders across the country called for the flag to be taken down from the state capitol grounds in Columbia. After a vote last week, the flag was taken down after flying for 50 years and placed in a museum.
The Emanuel AME Church
Referred to as "Mother Emanuel"
Roots stem from group of free blacks and slaves in 1791
Denmark Vesey - one of the founders - was a leader of a failed slave revolt in 1822
Rebuilt in 1891, replacing church damaged by 1886 earthquake
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King gave a speech at the church in April 1962
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