XXXXX SFChronicle.com | Wednesday,January 11, 2017|A
CHARLESTON, S.C. —
Dylann Roof was sentenced to
death Tuesday for killing nine
black church membersduring
Biblestudy in a racially moti-
vated attack, the first person to
face execution for federal hate-
crime convictions.
A jurydeliberated his sen-
tence forabout three hours,
capping a trial inwhich Roof
did not fight for his life or
show any remorse.At the
beginning of the trial, head-
dressed jurors directly, in-
sisting that hewasn’t mentally
ill, but he never as ked them for
forgi veness or mercy, or ex-
plained the crime.
He threwaway one last
chance to plead for his life on
Tuesday, telling jurors: “Istill
feel like I had todo it.”
Every juror looked directly
at Roof as he spoke forabout
five minutes. A few nodded as
he reminded them that they
said during jury selection they
couldfairly weigh thefactors
of his case. Only one of them,
he noted, had to disagree to
spare his life.
“I ha ve the right to askyou
to gi ve me a life sentence, but
I’m notsure what good it
would do anyway,” he said.
When theverdictwas read,
he stood stoic andshowed no
emotion.He will be formally
sentencedWednesday.
Roof told FBIagents when
they arrested him a day after
the June 17, 2015,slayings that
he wanted theshootings to
bring back segregation or
perhapsstart a racewar. In-
stead, theslayings had a uni-
fying effect, as South Carolina
removed the Confederateflag
fromits Statehouse for the first
time in more than 50years andotherstates followed suit,
takingdown Confederate ban-
ners and monuments.Roof
had posed with theflag in
photos.
The attacker specifically
picked out Emanuel AME
Church, the South’s oldest
black church, to carry out the
cold, calculatedslaughter,
AssistantU.S. AttorneyJay
Richardson said.
The 12 peopleRoof targetedopened thedoor for astranger
with a smile, he said.Three
peoplesurvived theattack.
“They welcomed a 13th per-
son that night ... with a kind
word, a Bible, a handout and a
chair,” Richardson saidduring
his closing argument. “He had
come with a hateful heart and
a Glock .45.”
The gunman sat with the
Biblestudy group forabout 45
minutes. During the finalprayer — when everyone’s eyes
were closed — hestarted fir-
ing. He stood over some of the
fallen victims,shooting them
again as they lay on thefloor,
Richardson said.
The jury convicted him last
month of all33 federalcharges
he faced, including hate
crimes.Meg Kinnard andJeffrey Collins
are Associated Press writers.Logan R.Cyrus / NewYorkTimes
A police officer directs traffic outside a Charleston court,where a jury sentenced DylannRoof
to death. Roof is the first personto face executionfor fede ral ha te crime convictions.SOUTCAROLINA
Death penalty
for killing 9
church members
By Meg Kinnard
and Jeffrey Collins
In the weeks afterRoger
Aileswas ousted as thechair-
man ofFox News in July amid a
sexual harassment scandal,
company executives secretly
struck an agreement with a
longtime on-air personality
who had come forward with
similaraccusationsabout the
network’s top host, BillO’Re il-
ly.
The employee, Juliet Huddy,
had said thatO’Re illy pursued
a sexual relationship with her
in 2011,at a time he exerted
significant influence over her
career.When she rebuffed his
adva nces, he tried toderail her
career,according to a draft of a
letter from her lawyers toFox
News that was obtainedby the
New York Ti mes.
The letter include s allega-
tions thatO’Re illy had called
Huddy repeatedly and thatit
sometimes sounded like hewas
masturbating.He invited her to
his house onLong Island, tried
to kiss her, took her to dinner
and the theater, and after ask-
ing her to return akey to hishotel room,appearedat the
door in his boxer shorts, ac-
cording to the letter.
In exchange for her silence
and agreement not tosue, she
was paid asum in the high six
figures,according to people
briefed on theagreement.The
agreementwas betweenHuddy
and 21st CenturyFox, the par-
ent company ofFox News. The
company andO’Re illy’s lawyer
said her allegationswere false.
In the aftermath of Ailes’
departure, executives decl ared
that such behaviorwould never
again be tolerated.O’Re illy hascontinued to host hisshow on
weekday nights at 8 p.m., and
he published two more books.
Detailsabout the allegations
and theagreement between
Huddy and 21st CenturyFox
are based on interviews with
current and formerFox News
employees, the letter writtenby
her lawyers to the company,
and three pages of a draft of the
settlementagreement.
The letterwas mailed anony-
mously in December to report-
ers for theTimes; its authen-
ticitywas verifiedby several
peoplewho ha ve been briefedon it. A personclose toHuddy
told theTimes thatshe relayed
accounts ofO’Re illy’s unwant-
ed adva nces at the time they
occurred.
In the letter, lawyers for
Huddy also said that a long-
time Fox executive, Jack Aber-
nethy, had retaliatedagainst
her professionally aftershe
made cl ear thatshe was not
interested in a personal rela-
tionship.Emily Steel and MichaelS.
Schmidt areNew York Times
writers.SE<UAL ARASS!ENT
Fox settles allegations against top host Bill O’Reilly
By EmilySteel
and Mich ael S. Schmidt
NATION