海角大神

Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man charged with killing nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., last month, will be indicted on federal hate crime charges on Wednesday, according to media reports.

An anonymous official close to the case told the Associated Press that a grand jury will indict Mr. Roof, who already faces state charges including nine counts of murder. He could face the death penalty if found guilty. US Attorney General Loretta Lynch is expected to formally announce the charges at a 3 p.m. press conference.

The indictment has been expected since Roof鈥檚 arrest on June 17, when authorities began investigating the shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church as a hate crime.聽

A hate crime is by Congress as a 鈥渃riminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender鈥檚 bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.鈥澛�

Roof, a white man, is thought to have authored a racist online manifesto and appeared in several photos with Confederate flags.聽

鈥淚 chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country,鈥� one passage on his website, "The Last Rhodesian." 鈥淲e have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.鈥�

There has been little question from the start of the investigation that the attack was racially motivated聽鈥撀爃ence the hate crime charges. But some argue that the mass killing should be considered an act of terrorism instead.聽

鈥淢any maintain that a 鈥榟ate crime鈥� is an individual act, easily dismissed, while 鈥榯errorism鈥� evokes the sense of an 鈥榦ther鈥� who has attacked the national family as a whole,鈥� 海角大神鈥檚 Harry Bruinius wrote two days after the attack.聽

If Roof had been black and the victims white, some experts say, he would be considered a terrorist.聽

鈥淲hile white suspects are lone wolfs ... violence by black and Muslim people is systemic, demanding response and action from all who share their race or religion,鈥� wrote Anthea Butler, professor of religion and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania, in an in The Washington Post.

Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, stressed to the Monitor the importance of using the term 鈥渢errorist鈥� rather than 鈥渉ate crime鈥� to demonstrate to Americans 鈥渉ow severe and dangerous鈥� crimes such as Roof鈥檚 are.聽

鈥淚f we just say it鈥檚 mental illness or just a senseless act of violence, then it sends a message to other people that it鈥檚 not that close to them, that it鈥檚 not as grave of a crime,鈥� Ms. Sarsour said. 鈥淭hen we end up detracting from a very important conversation about the nature of domestic white male supremacist terrorism.鈥�

This report includes material from the Associated Press and Reuters.