Girl, 17, Inspired By Dylann Roof, Sentenced To 4 Years For Plot To Murder Black Members Of Georgia Church
On Thursday, 17-year-old Caitlyn Pye from Gainesville was found guilty of criminal attempt to commit murder for the plotted attack on Georgia’s Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Mill Street.
RELATED: Charleston Church Shooter Dylann Roof Staged Hunger Strike Over ‘Harsh’ Prison Treatment
Pye was charged on November 15, 2019, after school resource officers discovered that the girl, who was 16 at the time, had a notebook that “detailed plans to commit murder” at the church. School officials searched Pye’s bag and found a notebook along with two T-shirts: one that had “natural selection” written on the front while the other said “Free Dylann Storm Roof.” Assistant district attorney Julia Greene said it had swastikas drawn on each arm. Dylann Roof was the mass murderer who shot and killed nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina back in 2015. He currently remains behind bars for his horrific crime.
Attorney Greene shared that “On the back of the shirt were several writings including, “I’m not crazy I had to do this,”‘ she explained. ‘”I had to do it because somebody had to do something, because black people are killing White people every day on the streets. What I did is still minuscule compared to what they’re doing to White people every day. I do consider myself a White supremacist.”‘ The back of her shirt also included Roof’s name and references to White supremacy, the Gainesville Times reports. In addition to their findings, authorities also learned that Pye had actually visited the church on November 6 and 13 of 2019. She brought two knives with her in a bag but could not find anyone in the church.
Despite this, during the trial, Pye’s mother described her daughter as being “such a great child” and added that “She’s not a monster. She’s never been taught hate.” Juvenile Court Judge Allison Toller, who handled the case in both the Juvenile and Superior Court, ordered the teen to stay at the Department of Juvenile Justice until she turns 21 and then will have 10 years of probation.
So far, the church has spent $8,500 on changing locks, upgrading surveillance, hiring off-duty police, and other security measures. Bishop Reginald T, Jackson, presiding prelate of the Sixth Episcopal District of AME churches said in an impact statement:
“Our churches, rather than being places of worship, study, and fellowship, have now become armed sanctuaries, where we have to have security in order to feel safe,” Jackson said. While we are angered and frustrated by this incident, we do not hold hostility against this defendant,” he added. “While she apparently hates or hated us, we do not hate her and do not wish to nullify her future and do not give up on her.”