Dylann Roof offered the first words many have ever heard him say since he was arrested in 2015 during the opening statements of his sentencing trial.

Roof, who killed nine black people during a prayer service in Charleston in June 2015, showed no inclination of remorse and chose to try and justify rather than apologize for his act of terror. 

“Other than the fact that I trust people that I shouldn’t and the fact that I’m probably better at constantly embarrassing myself than anyone who’s ever existed, there’s nothing wrong with me psychologically,” he told the jury who found him guilty last month, as he represented himself.

The prosecutor also read excerpts from journal entries Roof wrote in the past, according to the New York Times.

“I would like to make it crystal clear I do not regret what I did,” he wrote. “I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed.”

“I do feel sorry for the innocent white children forced to live in this sick country and I do feel sorry for the innocent white people that are killed daily at the hands of the lower race,” he continued. “I have shed a tear of self-pity for myself. I feel pity that I had to do what I did in the first place. I feel pity that I had to give up my life because of a situation that should never have existed.”

The trial is now in the phase where jurors will decide if Roof will be sentenced to death or life in prison. He was found guilty on 33 charges, 18 of which could come with the death penalty if the jury so chooses.