Charleston church shooting
The Charleston church shooting, also known as the Charleston church massacre, was an anti-black mass shooting and hate crime that occurred on June 17, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed, and one was injured, during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black church in the southern United States. Among the fatalities was the senior pastor, state senator Clementa C. Pinckney. All ten victims were African Americans. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting at a place of worship in U.S. history and is the deadliest mass shooting in South Carolina history.
"2015 Charleston shooting" redirects here. For the fatal shooting by a North Charleston police officer, see Killing of Walter Scott.Charleston church shooting
June 17, 2015
c. 9:05 – c. 9:11 p.m. (EDT)
African American churchgoers at a church congregation
9
1
Federal
Death (de jure)
State
9 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole plus 95 years
Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white supremacist, had attended the Bible study before opening fire. He was found to have targeted members of this church because of its history and status. In December 2016, Roof was convicted of 33 federal hate crime and murder charges. On January 10, 2017, he was sentenced to death for those crimes.[1][2] Roof was separately charged with nine counts of murder in the South Carolina state courts. In April 2017, Roof pleaded guilty to all nine state charges in order to avoid receiving a second death sentence, and as a result, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He will receive automatic appeals of his death sentence, but he may eventually be executed by the federal justice system.[3][4]
Roof espoused racial hatred in both a website manifesto which he published before the shooting, and a journal which he wrote from jail afterward. On his website, Roof posted photos of emblems which are associated with white supremacy, including a photo of the Confederate battle flag. The shooting triggered debates about modern display of the flag and other commemorations of the Confederacy. Following these murders, the South Carolina General Assembly voted to remove the flag from State Capitol grounds and a wave of Confederate monument or memorial removals followed shortly thereafter.
Background[edit]
Founded in 1816, the church has played an important role in the history of South Carolina, including the slavery era and Reconstruction, the civil rights movement, and Black Lives Matter.[5] It is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal Church in the South, often referred to as "Mother Emanuel". The AME Church was founded by Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1814 as the first independent black denomination.[6] It is a historically black congregation, one of the oldest south of Baltimore.[7][8]
When one of the church's co-founders, Denmark Vesey, was suspected of plotting to launch a slave rebellion in Charleston in 1822, 35 people, including Vesey, were hanged and the church was burned down.[9][10] Charleston citizens accepted the claim that a slave rebellion was expected to begin at the stroke of midnight on June 16, 1822, and it was expected to erupt the following day (the shooting in 2015 occurred on the 193rd anniversary of the thwarted uprising).[11] As the rebuilt church was formally shuttered with other all-black congregations by the city in 1834, the congregation met in secret until 1865 when it was formally reorganized, and it acquired the name Emanuel ("God with us").[12] It was rebuilt based on a design which was drawn by Denmark Vesey's son.[11] That structure was badly damaged in the 1886 Charleston earthquake.[13][14] The current building dates from 1891.[11][12]
The church's senior pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, had held rallies after the shooting of Walter Scott by a white police officer two months earlier, in nearby North Charleston. As a state senator, Pinckney pushed for legislation requiring police to wear body cameras.[15]
Several commentators noted that a similarity existed between the massacre at Emanuel AME and the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing of a politically active African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, where the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) killed four black girls and injured fourteen others, during the civil rights movement. This attack galvanized support for federal civil rights legislation.[14][16]
Numerous scholars, journalists, activists and politicians have emphasized their belief that the attack should not be treated as an isolated event because in their view, it occurred within the broader context of racism against Black Americans and racism in the United States. In 1996, Congress had passed the Church Arson Prevention Act, which considers the damaging of religious property a federal crime because of its "racial or ethnic character", in response to a spate of 154 suspicious church burnings which had occurred since 1991.[17][18] More recent arson attacks against black churches included a black church in Massachusetts that was burned down the day after the first inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009.[19][20][21][22]
Criminal investigation[edit]
Manhunt and capture[edit]
The attack was treated as a hate crime by police. Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in to assist in the investigation and manhunt.[26][68]
On the morning after the attack, police received a tip-off from a woman who recognized Roof and his car, a black Hyundai Elantra with South Carolina license plates and a three-flag "Confederate States of America" bumper decoration,[69] on U.S. Route 74, recalling security camera images taken at the church and distributed to the media. She later recalled, "I got closer and saw that haircut. I was nervous. I had the worst feeling. Is that him or not him?" She called her employer, who contacted local police, and then tailed the suspect's car for 35 miles (56 km) until she was certain authorities were moving in for an arrest.[70] At 10:44 a.m., Roof was captured in a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, approximately 245 miles (394 km) from the shooting scene. A .45-caliber pistol was found in the car during the arrest.[71][72]
Reactions[edit]
Officials[edit]
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. denounced the attack and said, "Of all cities, in Charleston, to have a horrible hateful person go into the church and kill people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond any comprehension and is not explained. We are going to put our arms around that church and that church family."
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said, "While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another. Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers."[157]
President Barack Obama said in Charleston on June 18, "Once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun... We as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries."[158] At a Washington press conference later that day, he said, "Michelle and I know several members of Emanuel AME Church. We knew their pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who, along with eight others, gathered in prayer and fellowship and was murdered last night. And to say our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families, and their community, doesn't say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the anger that we feel."[159]
On June 19, the United States Department of Justice fast-tracked a Crime Victim Assistance Formula Grant of $29 million to the South Carolina government. Some of the money will be allocated to the survivors.[160]
On January 8, 2024, President Joe Biden made a speech at the Emanuel AME Church to talk about the ‘poison’ of white supremacy. Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted the speech by chanting "ceasefire now". The protests were made in response to the Israel–Palestinian conflict.[161]
Families[edit]
After Roof's appearance at his bond hearing, his family issued a statement, expressing their shock and grief at his actions.[162] Following the funerals of several of the victims in the shooting, they issued a second statement, expressing their condolences to the victims' families and announcing the temporary postponement of comments out of respect for them. During the bond hearing, several family members of the victims told Roof that they forgave him.[78]
Local community[edit]
The local community surrounding Charleston held prayer vigils and fundraisers. A mass unity rally was also held on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge on the evening of June 21. Organizers of the rally claimed there were up to 20,000 supporters in the rally. Tens of thousands of individuals crossed from the Mount Pleasant side of the bridge to the downtown Charleston side, carrying supportive signs and flags. Dozens of boats joined in the procession as well [163]
Religious community[edit]
The World Methodist Council, an association of worldwide churches in the Methodist tradition, of which the AME Church is a part, said it "urges prayer and support for the victims' families and those members of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church who have been so gravely affected by this crime motivated by hate."[164] The President and Vice-President of the British Methodist Conference, also a member of the World Methodist Council, sent a letter of solidarity to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, saying, "The hearts of the members of the Methodist Church of Great Britain go out to the families and friends of those killed; to the Church; and to the wider communities in Charleston."[165]
The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church, also a member of the World Methodist Council and in full communion with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, called on its members "to support the victims of this and all acts of violence, to work to end racism and hatred, to seek peace with justice, and to live the prayer that our Lord gave us, that God's 'kingdom come, [and] will be done, on earth as it is in heaven'".[166]
The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, also a member of the World Methodist Council and in full communion with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, shared its support with the presiding bishop, stating, "let us join with the AMEs in prayer for the healing of the families touched by this tragedy – the families of the victims and the family of the perpetrator".[167]
The Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said, "We offer our prayers for healing to the wounded and traumatized, and solidarity and accompaniment to our sisters and brothers in the African Methodist Episcopal Church".[168] Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz, the president of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made similar remarks.[169]
On August 8, 2019, the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a resolution to recognize the Emanuel 9 as martyrs on their liturgical calendar and declare June 17 as "a day of repentance in the ELCA for the
martyrdom of the Emanuel 9."[170][171] At the time of the shooting, Dylann Roof was a member of an ELCA congregation.[172] The Rev. Clementa Pinckney and the Rev. Daniel Simmons were both alumni of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, a seminary of the ELCA.[172]
Various national Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Committee,[173] Union for Reform Judaism,[174] Jewish Federations of North America, Anti-Defamation League, and Orthodox Union issued statements deploring the attack and expressing deep grief and horror. The Rabbinical Assembly, in its own statement, quoted Leviticus, saying, "'Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.' Hateful, violent acts such as this have no place in our society, in a country known for its diversity and blending of various cultures."[175]
Many national Muslim organizations and individual imams,[176][177][178] such as Council on American–Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America (ISNA),[179] and Islamic Circle of North America issued statements condemning the attack and offering sympathy for the victims.[177] In a joint statement, CAIR and Muslim leaders in Baltimore called for a Ramadan 'Day of Prayer' in local communities for healing following on from the Charleston Massacre "Day of Prayer".[177]
Muslim and Jewish religious organizations have raised several hundred thousand dollars to help rebuild black churches that were burned down in the weeks after the shooting.[180]
Others[edit]
At least eighteen candidates and prospective candidates for the 2016 U.S. presidential election expressed reactions through various media and addresses.[181] According to NPR, Democratic and Republican candidates found different ways to address the incident, with Democrats seeing race and gun control as central issues, while Republicans were pointing to mental illness and referring to it as a tragic but random act.[182] Most Republican candidates eventually acknowledged that race was a motivating factor for the shooting. According to The Christian Science Monitor, the shooting became a precarious subject for Republican presidential contenders, in particular in regard of the racial motivations behind it, as South Carolina held primaries and the state's political importance resulted in some candidates "skirting around the clear racial motivations behind the attack".[183]
The night following the attack, Jon Stewart delivered a monologue on The Daily Show discussing the tragic nature of the news, condemning the attacks as well as the media's response to it. Stewart argued that in response to Islamic terrorism, politicians declare they will do "whatever we can" to make America safe, even justifying torture, but respond to this mass shooting with "what are you gonna do, crazy is as crazy does".[184]
The Council of Conservative Citizens, whose website Roof cited as a source for his radicalization, issued a statement on its website "unequivocally condemn[ing]" the attack, but that Roof has some "legitimate grievances" against black people. An additional statement from the group's president, Earl Holt III, disavowed responsibility for the crime and said the group's website "accurately and honestly report[s] black-on-white violent crime".[185]
In an online forum, Charles Cotton, a lawyer in Houston and a national board member of the National Rifle Association, placed blame for the shooting on Pinckney for not allowing the churchgoers to hold concealed carry weapons inside the church. In 2011, Pinckney had voted against legislation that would allow concealed handguns to be carried into public places. Cotton also criticized the effectiveness of gun-free zones, stating, "If we look at mass shootings that occur, most happen in gun-free zones." Cotton's comment has since been deleted from the online forum.[186][187]
Following the shooting, Rhodesians Worldwide, an online magazine catering to the Rhodesian expatriate community, issued a brief statement condemning Roof's actions in response to his use of the Rhodesian flag. It said 80% of the Rhodesian Security Forces were black and that the Rhodesian Bush War was a struggle against communism rather than a racial conflict.[188]
Jerry Richardson, the owner of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, donated $100,000 to the Mother Emanuel Hope Fund set up by Mayor Riley, specifically calling for $10,000 to each of the families of the nine victims to cover their funeral expenses, and the remaining $10,000 to be delivered to the Emanuel AME Church itself.[189][190]
Artist Carrie Mae Weems has created a theater piece in response to the murders, called Grace Notes.[191]
Civil rights advocates said that the Charleston attack did more than fit the dictionary definition of terrorism because it also reflected the history of attempts to terrorize African-Americans by the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups.[192]
Lawsuits[edit]
On October 29, 2021, the Justice Department agreed to pay $88 million to the families of the victims and the wounded. The settlement comes about after relatives of the victims sued the FBI because it had a faulty background check system, which allowed Roof to purchase the gun that he used in the shooting. The relatives of the deceased will receive $6m and $7.5m while five other people who sustained injuries will each receive $5 million.[238][239]