Dylann Roof, author of the massacre at a Bible reading session at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, was found guilty Thursday of the 33 counts charged and could face life in prison.
Roof, 22, started a gunfight at a Charleston church, killing nine parishioners. This city of North Carolina is known for its large black population.
The white supremacist said in a confession recorded after his arrest that the June 17 attack last year was a reprisal for alleged crimes committed by blacks against whites.
"Someone had to do it because, you know, blacks are killing white people all the time on the street and they're raping white women," Roof said calmly and without emotion, to the FBI officer questioning him.
"He executed them because he believed they were nothing more than animals," Assistant District Attorney Nathan Williams said in his closing arguments Thursday in a federal court in Charleston. "His actions in the church are a reflection of the immensity of his hatred."
"For every round of ammunition he dumped, for every person he killed, he must be found guilty," the prosecutor added.
After the closing arguments, the jury deliberated two hours.
The massacre shocked national and international public opinion because it bloodied a church that was a symbol of the struggle of blacks against slavery.
Identified by the surveillance cameras, this solitary attacker who did the apology of Nazism and apartheid was arrested the morning after the massacre.
In the next phase of the trial, which will determine if he will be sent to the death row, Roof will personally take care of his own defense, according to an express request he made to the judge.
With information from AFP
Photo: Image of Roof Victims: From left to right, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Myrah Thompson. Ethel Lance, Susie Jackson, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton. Daniel Simmons, Clementa Pinckney and Cynthia Hurd / Daily Mail