Trial begins for defendant in South Carolina church massacre

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Dylann Roof had a “cold and hateful heart” when he pulled a pistol from his fanny pack during a Bible study last year and killed nine black church members as they closed their eyes for a final prayer, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Prosecutors said Roof sat in the church basement for about a half-hour with 12 parishioners of the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church before opening fire in an attempt to start a race war.

After the racially mixed jury determines Roof’s guilt, the federal trial will move to the penalty phase, where Roof plans to act as his own lawyer to apparently fight for his life.

Defense attorney David Bruck said the facts of the case are largely undisputed and that he would likely ask few questions of the government witnesses.

The defense has said repeatedly in both federal court and state court — where Roof faces another death penalty trial next year — that Roof is willing to plead guilty if capital punishment is taken off the table.

Bruck urged jurors to pay attention to the little things and use their common sense to try to figure out what made Roof hate black people so much.