Dylann Roof Image by Getty Images

By Aiden Pink September 19, 2017

The white supremacist who was convicted of shooting nine people in a South Carolina church as part of his plan to start a “race war” has been barred by a federal appeals court from firing his Jewish and Indian-American lawyers.

Dylann Roof filed a hand-written motion to the court from his federal prison, arguing that “Because of my political views, which are arguably religious, it will be impossible for me to trust two attorneys that are my political and biological enemies.”

But the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his motion on Tuesday. Its entire statement was 11 words: “The court denies the motion for substitution of counsel on appeal.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Roof is awaiting the death penalty (pending the end of his appeals) following his 2015 conviction on dozens of counts. His lawyer during his original trial was also Jewish, which Roof complained about in his filing, saying that his “ethnicity was a constant source of conflict even with my constant efforts to look past it.”

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount