Today, Dylann Storm Roof, the man suspected of killing nine people at a prayer meeting at a historic black church in Charleston, SC, has been captured. And there have been plenty of updates to follow. Inside, we recap the crime and capture of the heinous suspect as well as statements from Attorney General Loretta Lynch and President Obama.
Following an intensive 14-hour manhunt for the man suspected of carrying out a racially motivated mass murder, a capture was made this afternoon.
Earlier today, police apprehended 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof, a man who allegedly performed white supremacist actions and a resident of Lexington, South Carolina. He is the suspect (the term "suspect" is used here for legalities only) in Wednesday night's mass shooting at the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, which is also the oldest black church in the south.
Dylann was STILL armed when he was arrested today after a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, about 245 miles away from the crime.
The mainstream media made a point, in almost every report on this story, to point out he had a "peaceful arrest." He was also given a bulletproof vest and seemingly handled with respect and care by police.
Needless to say, commenters on the internet were livid. People did not hold back about the hypocrisy and double standard of how an armed white man is treated in an arrest, in comparison to the often excessive treatment of an unarmed black man who may or may not have been committing a crime.
The tragic shooting took place during an 8pm Bible study meeting where a survivor reports that Dylann (shown atop in a prior mugshot) sat quietly for an hour before jumping up and starting to shoot. He allegedly reloaded five times as victims, including the pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney (a personal friend of the Obamas) who reportedly begged for him to stop.
According to Sylvia Johnson, who is the cousin of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one survivor told her that Dylan reportedly said, “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.’”
Oddly, a look at Dylann's Facebook page shows that he has several Black "friends" (and it's unclear the reason he actually befriended these people), and also includes pics of himself wearing a jacket emblazoned with the flags of pre-apartheid South Africa and the now-disbanded Rhodesia.
Today, in the White House briefing room, President Obama spoke about the tragedy. As you'll see in the transcript, he mentions the "historical" significance of the church and its place in our history, but loudly avoids talking about race or racism as it relates the heainus act that occured and the disgusting human being who murdered nine people.
Good afternoon, everybody. This morning, I spoke with, and Vice President Biden spoke with, Mayor Joe Riley and other leaders of Charleston to express our deep sorrow over the senseless murders that took place last night.
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.
Any death of this sort is a tragedy. Any shooting involving multiple victims is a tragedy.
There is something particularly heartbreaking about the death happening in a place in which we seek solace and we seek peace, in a place of worship.
Mother Emanuel is, in fact, more than a church. This is a place of worship that was founded by African Americans seeking liberty. This is a church that was burned to the ground because its worshipers worked to end slavery. When there were laws banning all-black church gatherings, they conducted services in secret. When there was a nonviolent movement to bring our country closer in line with our highest ideals, some of our brightest leaders spoke and led marches from this church’s steps. This is a sacred place in the history of Charleston and in the history of America.
The FBI is now on the scene with local police, and more of the Bureau’s best are on the way to join them. The Attorney General has announced plans for the FBI to open a hate crime investigation. We understand that the suspect is in custody. And I’ll let the best of law enforcement do its work to make sure that justice is served.
Until the investigation is complete, I’m necessarily constrained in terms of talking about the details of the case. But I don’t need to be constrained about the emotions that tragedies like this raise. I’ve had to make statements like this too many times. Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.
We don’t have all the facts, but we do know that, once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun.
Now is the time for mourning and for healing. But let’s be clear:
At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it.
I say that recognizing the politics in this town foreclose a lot of those avenues right now. But it would be wrong for us not to acknowledge it. And at some point it’s going to be important for the American people to come to grips with it, and for us to be able to shift how we think about the issue of gun violence collectively.
The fact that this took place in a black church obviously also raises questions about a dark part of our history. This is not the first time that black churches have been attacked. And we know that hatred across races and faiths pose a particular threat to our democracy and our ideals.
The good news is I am confident that the outpouring of unity and strength and fellowship and love across Charleston today, from all races, from all faiths, from all places of worship indicates the degree to which those old vestiges of hatred can be overcome. That, certainly, was Dr. King’s hope just over 50 years ago, after four little girls were killed in a bombing in a black church in Birmingham, Alabama.
He said they lived meaningful lives, and they died nobly. “They say to each of us,” Dr. King said, “black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely with [about] who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American Dream.
“And if one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him, and that God is able to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope, and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace.”
Reverend Pinckney and his congregation understood that spirit. Their Christian faith compelled them to reach out not just to members of their congregation, or to members of their own communities, but to all in need. They opened their doors to strangers who might enter a church in search of healing or redemption.
Mother Emanuel church and its congregation have risen before –- from flames, from an earthquake, from other dark times -– to give hope to generations of Charlestonians.
And with our prayers and our love, and the buoyancy of hope, it will rise again now as a place of peace.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch also addressed the shooting saying,
This is a crime that has reached into the heart of that saying, community. The Department of justice has opened a hate crime investigation into this shooting incident.
My thoughts and prayers, and those of our entire law enforcement community here at the Department of Justice and around the country are with the families and loved ones of the victims in Charleston," she added. "Even as we struggle to comprehend this heartbreaking event, I want everyone in Charleston and everyone who has been affected by this tragedy to know that we will do everything in our power to help heal this community and make it whole again."
As the days grow long, we are learning more and more about the shooter. In an interview with the Daily Beast, John Mullins, who went to school with Dylan, said he was a heavy drug user who made racist jokes.
“He made a lot of racist jokes, but you don't really take them seriously like that. You don't really think of it like that.” Not in hindsight, John adds, "the things he said were kind of not joking.”
It should be noted, Dylan has had a history of arrests for drug possession and trespassing. An uncle also revealed that Dylan's father recently gave him a gun for his birthday.
While the media attention has focused almost solely on the monster at the center of thi shooting, TheYBF.com would like to remember the nine church members who were killed on Wednesday (via NBC NEWS).
- The Rev. Clementa Pinckney - Pinckney was a pastor at Emanuel AME and began preaching in the church in his teens. The 41-year-old married father of two also served in the South Carolina Senate and was at one time the youngest member of the state House when he was first elected at 23.
- Tywanza Sanders - Sanders, 26, was also a graduate of Allen University. He earned a degree in business administration last year.
- Cynthia Hurd - Hurd, 54, was an employee of the Charleston County Public Library for three decades, most recently working as the manager at St. Andrews Regional Library.
- Sharonda Coleman-Singleton - Coleman-Singleton, 49, was a speech therapist and girls' track and field coach at Goose Creek High School in suburban Charlotte.
- The Rev. Depayne Middleton Doctor - Doctor, 49, was a church singer and former Charleston County community development block grant employee, retiring in 2005.
- Susie Jackson, 87, a longtime church member.
- Ethel Lance, 70, a sexton at the church.
- The Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74, a member of the church's ministerial staff, who died in the operating room at the hospital.
- Myra Thompson, 59, wife of the vicar of Holy Trinity Reformed Episcopal Church.
Before the tragic shooting, members of the church can be seen in a Snapchat video (taken by victim Tywanza Sanders) conducting Bible study and sharing their love of the Lord. The video makes this horrific shooting even more overwhelmingly sad and incites anger in us more than ever.
We will keep you updated as more information is made available to the public....
Photos via Twitter/Mugshot.com/Dylann's Facebook Page