In US, there should be justice for everyone: Commentator

Press TV has conducted an interview with Wilmer Leon, a columnist and political commentator from Washington, to ask for his insight about the case of Dylann Roof, the white American accused of killing nine parishioners at a black church in South Carolina.

What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: There is the fact that not-guilty pleas are entered and Roof was even advised to plead not guilty. How much does this show that he hopes for leniency and that justice might not be served?

Leon: I don’t think that’s really the indication here at all because he initially wanted to plead guilty, but upon advice of his attorneys, they wanted to first determine whether or not the federal government was going to seek the death penalty. And the attorneys’ job is to keep their client alive and so the attorneys are waiting to see what the federal government is going to do before they enter their plea. This is a legal tactic. That’s all it is.

Press TV: Generally speaking, many say racism runs through the whole American system. If there is justice for white people, why should there not be justice for non-white people?

Leon: There should be justice for everyone, and I don’t really see that this legal tack being taken by his attorneys really has anything to do with justice or not seeking justice, because at the end of the day whether he receives life without the possibility of parole, or is put to death so long as he is off the streets for the rest of his life, I believe most people in this country will believe that justice has been served. There is a great debate in this country about the death penalty and whether even under the most heinous circumstances such as this an individual should be put to death, many still debate that. So again, as long as it’s either life without the possibility of parole so that he spends the rest of his life every waking moment behind bars, having to think about the atrocities that he committed, or whether he is put to death, justice will be served.

Press TV: What can be done so that justice could be equally administered throughout the United States?

Leon: If I understand your question, that’s really a matter of getting to the core of what America really stands for and what America does. Because the issue is not only getting justice across the United States, it’s not only a domestic issue, it’s a foreign policy issue as well. Drone strikes and all the other types of interventions that the United States is involved in, not seeking justice for those in other countries, but merely seeking access to minerals, access to resources, access to cheap labor. So, it’s not only a matter of domestic justice, it is a matter of justice around the world.

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