Biden Leaves Dylan Roof On Death Row While Commuting 37 Others To Life Sentences

That's definitely one way of showing support.....

President Joe Biden seemingly showcased support for Black lives by keeping mass murderer Dylann Roof on federal death row while commuting the death sentences of 37 others, Associated Press reports.

Out of 40 sentences, 37 inmates who committed murders have been spared, including those who killed police and military officers, people on federal land, and those involved in bank robberies or drug deals that turned deadly. Roof, who slaughtered nine Black parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, while praying with them, is one of three who will remain on death row. The 2013 Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers, who committed the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history by fatally shooting 11 Jewish congregants at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, will also remain on federal death row.

In a statement, Biden touched on his move being a part of a moratorium — or temporary delay of an activity or law — that was conducted by his administration early on. “I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system. Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole,” the President said.

“These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”

The commuted sentences have been praised by civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King III, the son of civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King has been an open advocate of changing the laws surrounding death sentences, writing in a letter that Biden “has done what no president before him was willing to do: take meaningful and lasting action not just to acknowledge the death penalty’s racist roots but also to remedy its persistent unfairness.”

Since being found guilty of 33 federal charges, Roof and his legal team have advocated for his death sentence to be overturned, once arguing for “proper competency evaluation.”

However, a federal appeals court upheld the sentencing after evidence found in Roof’s prison journal conveyed the white nationalist’s pride in his crime. “I would like to make it crystal clear. I do not regret what I did,” Roof wrote.

“I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed.”

During Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, his website alleged he would “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example,” a very different viewpoint in comparison to Trump, who is scheduled to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 — also known as MLK Day.

Biden poked at Trump and his ideology surrounding federal capital punishment, suggesting during his 2024 campaign days that “drug dealers and human traffickers and child sex abusers should be put to death,” according to the New York Times. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” Biden said on the site.

Donnie Oliverio, a retired police officer whose partner was killed during a bank robbery that went haywire, agreed with Biden’s decision, claiming putting Daryl Lawrence, who committed the crime to death, wouldn’t have changed anything.

“Putting to death the person who killed my police partner and best friend would have brought me no peace,” Oliverio said.