Treason charges against Dylann Roof?

[ck4829]

Let's see...

* Mass murder of a group of people, and in his own words, to incite a war (That fits one definition right there)
* Assassination of a political official
* Sympathy for the Confederacy
* Displaying the banners of the Apartheid regime and Rhodesia

The government won't say he's a terrorist, but why not the other t-word? According to Article Three of the United States Constitution, it is very possible that he is a traitor.

[1939]

1. Multiple premeditated murders and hate crime aren't enough? NT

[ck4829]

2. I'm seriously asking, are his actions treason?

[KingCharlemagne]

3. The Constitution defines 'treason' as providing aid and assistance to a foreign

power during a time of war. Do Roof's actions meet that test? Come on now. Don't marginalize the evil of his actions with easily-debunked hyperbole.

[ck4829]

5. I don't get that when I read Article Three, but that's what I wanted to know

It just seemed like committing a crime in the hopes of starting a civil war might seem kind of like that.

[KingCharlemagne]

8. Text of first paragraph of Article 3, Section 3:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleiii (Emphasis added)

[dumbcat]

4. Not even close

and I can't believe you are even asking this.

What he has done is much, much worse than treason.

[NuclearDem]

7. What foreign power would he be providing aid and comfort for?

Rhodesia doesn't exist anymore. The Confederacy doesn't exist anymore. Apartheid South Africa doesn't exist anymore.

[ladjf]

6. My conspiracy theory about this massacre is that

it was conceived by someone else who conveyed it to Roof.

I'm having a hard time that he was able to plan that strike to take out a black state senator.

I further believe that he would be forthcoming with everything he knows if he is skillfully questioned. (And I don't mean tortured)

And if nothing else, a serious case study of his life and experience could yield very useful information about how young people slide off into such destructive behavior. In addition to his personal biology, this man is the product of his experiences. We need to know what they were. He did not grow up in a vacuum.

[Igel]

10. Why?

He could have approached the thing in several different ways.

Search on "Pinckney" because he was an AA state politician, find he was a reverend, and find he also worked at Emanuel AME. OR perhaps just read the newspapers or watch the news; apparently he gave some speech or "remarks" in the state capitol in early May that got a lot of attention. I assume that Emanuel AME was mentioned along the way.

Search on "prominent churches" if you're looking at the historic confluence of religion and politics in the AA civil rights struggle. You'll find Emanuel AME.

Search for places that have been the site of early AA "victories" or where whites have "fought" in the past, and you'll find Emanuel AME.

Or maybe it came up as a prominent cultural waymark on some hate site.

Then "Google is your friend."

Once you look at the Emanuel AME site you know pretty much all there is to know. Sunday morning services? Well, those might be touristy, but there'll be more people. Harder to park, harder to escape.

But those Wednesday 6 PM bible studies on the announcements page? Well ...

At that point the entire "planning" is simple enough: (a) get a gun and ammo; (b) get transportation; (c) get there at the right time; (d) remember to put bullets in the gun and to aim at the targets, not at your own feet. It takes as much planning savvy to go to a McDonald's with friends.

The difficult thing would be knowing that Pinckney was going to be there for the bible study and not other preachers on staff. Perhaps a phone call or email? Perhaps dumb luck? I'm still waiting for actual evidence that Roof even knew who Pinckney was, to be honest; the closest I've heard is Roof wanted to sit near the "reverend." Not "the reverend Pinckney" or "the senator."

[ladjf]

11. Just my suspicion, not based on anything other than my

low opinion of Roof's intellect and ability to think. I have a difficult time believing that Roof could have constructed such a
carbon copy of the right-wing Confederate types philosophy independently from his own brain.

If ,however, I were to be correct, solid information might be gleaned from interrogating Roof.

[Nye Bevan]

9. Ridiculous (nt)

[R.A. Ganoush]

12. Yes, I'll take

things that make DU suck for $500 Alex.