Trial Date Set for Charleston Church Massacre Accused Dylann Roof

Washington: A South Carolina judge on Thursday set July 11 next year as a trial date for Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white male charged with killing nine black people in an historic African-American church a month ago.

Roof faces nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and a firearms charge over the June 17 massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

Roof, wearing a striped prison uniform and restraints on his hands and ankles, stared ahead and said nothing during a hearing that lasted nearly 30 minutes, the local Post and Courier newspaper reported on its website.

It was his first court appearance in person since his arrest in North Carolina a day after the shooting. He had previously appeared at a bail hearing via a video link from a Charleston area detention center.

No members of his family were seen in the court room on Thursday, the Post and Courier said.

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Judge Julius Nicholson also extended by one week a gag order on information relating to the case, including recordings of 911 emergency calls to police on the night of the shooting, despite a request by local news organizations for their release.

The extra time is meant to allow anyone who objects to their release to come forward.

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Court documents posted online Thursday included a judicial form, bearing Roof's child-like signature, that states he is denied release on bail because he is a flight risk that poses a danger to the public.

Roof, who resided near South Carolina's state capital Columbia, is accused of using a nine millimeter handgun to fatally shoot nine African-Americans as they attended an evening Bible study class.

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The dead included Emanuel's chief pastor Clementa Pinckney, 41, who was also a state senator. Three other people survived what local authorities swiftly described as a hate crime.

Roof sped off in a car, but was arrested the following morning in North Carolina.

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Later, a website attributed to him - and bearing photos of him brandishing firearms and a Confederate flag - emerged that suggested the mass shooting was racially motivated.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has said that she favors the death penalty for Roof if he is convicted.

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