Shooter allegedly identified, claimed he wanted to incite a “Race War”
On the evening of June 17, 2015, a historical church in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, was attacked by a single shooter. The chief suspect in the investigation is 21-year-old Dylann Roof, who is allegedly responsible for the deaths of nine church-goers, as well as injuring one other.
According to witnesses at the scene, the shooter was participating in the church’s weekly Bible study meeting, before removing a gun from a fanny pack he was wearing, and carrying out the shooting.
Witnesses reported to police and news sources that, when asked why he was attacking churchgoers, the shooter responded: “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.”
The shooter quickly fled the scene after carrying out the shooting. Roof was later named as the primary suspect by the FBI, after his father and uncle contacted police to identify him once they saw photos of him in the news.
In the time since June 17, a number of culture- and law-makers have spoken out against the alleged violence carried out by Roof.
U.S. President Barack Obama released a statement on June 19, condemning the shooter’s actions, and linking the events in Charleston to America’s lax attitudes on gun control.
“As much as we grieve this particular tragedy, it’s important to step back and recognize that these tragedies have become far too commonplace,” said Obama. “[Gun violence] costs this country dearly. More than 11,000 Americans were killed in 2013 alone. If Congress had passed some common sense legislation after Newton, after a group of children had been gunned down in their own classroom, reforms that 90 per cent of American people had supported…we might still have more Americans with us. We might have stopped one shooter. Some families might still be home.”
Roof’s personal manifesto, found on a website maintained by him, revealed potential insight into the mind of the killer. Roof believed that it was his responsibility to insight racial violence, arguing that recent events, like the case of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, indicated white Americans’ need to fight for their racial superiority.
“I have no choice,” reads an excerpt from his manifesto. “I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is [the] most historic city in my state, and, at one time, had the highest ratio of black to whites in the country. We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but taking on the Internet. Well, someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess it has to be me.”
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the house of worship that was allegedly attacked by Roof, is a historical site in South Carolina, and is closely associated with the hardship endured by black Americans in the state. For almost 200 years, the church has been a shelter and haven for those persecuted during the slavery era and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, as well as the more recent Black Lives Matter movement of the 2010s.
The unemployed Roof has been charged with nine counts of murder and one count of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The murder charges were delivered by the chief magistrate of Charleston County, who set Roof’s bond at $US 1 million. No bail was set for the weapon’s possession charge.
At the bond ruling, families of some of the victims rose to deliver statements to the court.
“You took something very previous away from me,” said the daughter of Ethel Lee Lance, a 70-year-old mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother allegedly killed by Roof. “I will never talk to her again. I will never get to hold her again. But I forgive you.”
Felecia Sanders was also present on the night of the shooting. She pretended to be dead to survive. Sanders was also the mother of 26-year-old victim Tywanza Sanders.
“We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with open arms,” said Sanders. “Every fibre in my body hurts and I’ll never the same. Tywana Sanders was my son, but Tywana was also my hero.”
Though lawmakers like President Obama have refused to condemn Roof as a domestic terrorist, members of the public have begun to advocate that charges of terrorism are appropriate for the 21-year-old.