Dylann Roof sentenced to death...

Dylann Roof mugshot. NBC News. 

I'm going to skip the normal format this one because I think I pretty much summed up this situation in a previous post. I don't have a whole lot to add but I did want to mention that Dylann Roof was sentenced to die today in court.  

I am, of course, happy about this outcome. Though I have mixed feelings about the death penalty, I do think that if anyone ever deserved it, Dylann Roof does. He's a racist, a terrorist and, quite frankly, an idiot. He killed a bunch of older people that were kind enough to open the door to him and let him worship with them. He repaid that kindness with murder. And he did it in hopes of fermenting a civil war based on race. He failed but it's impossible to argue that his goals weren't evil 

I do have to wonder about something though. Roof made no effort to defend himself at the sentencing portion of the trial. My question is maybe he wants to die? I don't think he feels any guilt for what he did and I don't think he thinks he deserves to die for it. Indeed, he still seems to think that what he did was the correct thing and that he had "no choice" but to murder a bunch of people.

Why then, would he want to die? My guess is he wants to be seen as a martyrdom for white nationalism. If that's his plan he's even a bigger idiot then I thought. He isn't going to be seen as martyr, he's going to be seen as a murder. Even if a race war were to break out, and I don't see that happening anytime soon, people wouldn't love the guy that forced it to happen. 

And I don't think even white supremacists like Roof. There may be a few that hate black people that much, but I think even most racist people understand that the people Roof killed were innocent. And even if they don't, its also undeniable that this attack lowered the reputation of white supremacists even lower then it was before, which is no small feat. It's bad publicity for a group that already has terrible publicity. I think even among racists, Roof is persona non grata.

I am hoping that there won't be any other Dylann Roof's. I think the death penalty might help a bit with that. Unlike the Norway attacker, Anders Breivik, Roof won't be able to spend the rest of his life getting attention in prison. Roof is going to die and though it will take some time, the only thing that can save his life now is the abolition of the death penalty. I don't see that happening anytime soon. It will take some time but sooner or later, Roof will die...