Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Tuesday that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the suspect in the 2015 shooting at a Charleston, S.C., church.

"Following the department's rigorous review process to thoroughly consider all relevant factual and legal issues, I have determined that the Justice Department will seek the death penalty," she said in astatement. "The nature of the alleged crime and resulting harm compelled this decision."

The federal proclamation comes three months after South Carolina prosecutors also said they would seek the death penalty for Roof's killing nine people during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last June.

Solicitor General Scarlett Wilson said the prosecution chose to seek capital punishment as a result of its "many, many meetings" with the survivors and the victims' families, even though some have expressed hesitance about the move.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/justice-to-seek-death-penalty-against-charleston-church-shooter/article/2592182