A grand jury has indicted 21-year-old Dylann Roof on 33 violations of federal law stemming from his role in the June 17 shooting at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

The charges against Roof range from hate crimes to religious obstructions. The shooting during the church's Bible study left nine black worshippers dead.

"Roof conceived of his goal of increasing racial tensions throughout the nation and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs he believed African Americans had committed against white people," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said to reporters on Wednesday. "To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African Americans because of their race."

She said Roof was charged with nine murders and three attempted murders under a federal hate crimes law. She said that law was "enacted specifically to vindicate the unique harms caused by racially motivated violence."

Separately, Roof has also been charged by South Carolina with nine counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

Prior to the shooting, Roof had posed in photos waving the Confederate flag, as well as guns. In a website he allegedly owned, he claimed he wanted to start a "racial war."