--- description: Federal public defenders have been appointed to represent Dylann Roof in connection with the shooting deaths last week at an African-American church in South Carolina... title: Federal Public Defenders Appointed to Charleston Shooting Suspect image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13ba2cc1110f9e86/698855762dce01fe599e4451/dylann-roof-charleston.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Federal Public Defenders Appointed to Charleston Shooting Suspect by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 25, 2015 2:24 AM CUT  Dylann Storm Roof appears by closed-circuit televison at his bond hearing in Charleston, S.C. on June 19, 2015 Dylann Storm Roof appears by closed-circuit televison at his bond hearing in Charleston, S.C. on June 19, 2015Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 25, 2015 2:24 AM CUT Federal public defenders have been appointed to represent Dylann Roof in connection with the shooting deaths last week at an African-American church in South Carolina — an indication that federal charges could be filed in addition to nine state murder counts. A U.S. magistrate’s judge in Charleston named two members of the public defender’s office to represent Roof this week, citing a separate investigation the Justice Department opened after the shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Roof, 21, hasn’t yet been charged with a federal crime, but U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said federal authorities are investigating the shootings as a possible hate crime. [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/charleston-church-shooting/charleston-church-shooting-federal-charges-likely-dylann-roof-n381326?cid=par-time-article%5F20150625 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3935009/dylann-roof-charleston-shooting-trial/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3935009/dylann-roof-charleston-shooting-trial/"},"headline":"Federal Public Defenders Appointed to Charleston Shooting Suspect","datePublished":"2015-06-25T02:24:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:30:40.361Z","description":"Federal public defenders have been appointed to represent Dylann Roof in connection with the shooting deaths last week at an African-American church in South Carolina...","url":"https://time.com/3935009/dylann-roof-charleston-shooting-trial/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13ba2cc1110f9e86/698855762dce01fe599e4451/dylann-roof-charleston.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13ba2cc1110f9e86/698855762dce01fe599e4451/dylann-roof-charleston.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dylann Storm Roof appears by closed-circuit televison at his bond hearing in Charleston","caption":"Dylann Storm Roof appears by closed-circuit televison at his bond hearing in Charleston","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3935009/dylann-roof-charleston-shooting-trial/","name":"Federal Public Defenders Appointed to Charleston Shooting Suspect"}}]}] ```