CHARLESTON, S.C. (WRIC) — After spending his first night in jail as an accused murderer, Dylann Roof appeared in court through a video link. Roof dressed in his black and white prison jumpsuit.
Family members of those who Roof gunned down filled the courtroom, and when given the opportunity, those family members spoke directly to the suspect.
Also on Friday, Roof’s parents released a statement, which read in part:
“The Roof Family would like to extend their deepest sympathies and condolences to families of the victims in Wednesday night’s shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
Words cannot express our shock, grief, and disbelief as to what happened that night. We are devastated and saddened by what occurred. We offer our prayers sympathy for all of those impacted by these events.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those killed this week. We have all been touched by the moving words from the victims’ families offering God’s forgiveness and love in the face of such horrible suffering.
Our hope and prayer is for peace and healing for the families of the victims, the Charleston community, and those touched by these events throughout the state of South Carolina and our nation.
As you can imagine, words are hard to find and we would ask that the media respect our family’s privacy at this time.”
After court the chief prosecutor held a press conference where she said her team will be working to get justice for the community, and spoke briefly about the death penalty.
“My primary obligation is to these victims’ families they deserve to know the facts first, they deserve to be involved in any conversations regarding the death penalty but now is not the time to have those conversations with them,” said Scarlett Wilson
There has been a lot of confusion about the bond for Roof. A $1 million bond was set for the felony weapons charge he is facing, but that is not the only charge.
He also faces nine murder charges, and South Carolina Law prohibits a judge from setting a bond for someone facing multiple murder charges.
So why was there a bond for the weapons charge? The easiest answer is that it’s simply a formality. If somehow the murder charges were dropped against him, then the bond would kick in.
