Eight People Shot in Black Church in Charleston, South Carolina

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and he almost didnt go through with because, SHOCKER the black folks in the church werent the menacing welfare recipient thugs he thought they were. he got killed with kindness and repaid that by killing them.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/charleston-church-shooting/dylann-roof-almost-didnt-go-through-charleston-church-shooting-n378341?cid=sm_tw&hootPostID=0d887bb20ff2596957427cb8c1dce9c8

He went to a Wednesday night prayer meeting. He knew he would be targeting mostly older church ladies, a preacher, and a deacon or two who would not be threatening.

His racial venom may have been aimed at young black "thugs" but he was too terrified to go anywhere near them.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone discovered any anti-Christian views on the part of this murderer?

Attacking a church sends a message; but it gets stronger when he specifically targeted a bible study.

Has he expressed anti-Christian views too?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone discovered any anti-Christian views on the part of this murderer?

Attacking a church sends a message; but it gets stronger when he specifically targeted a bible study.

Has he expressed anti-Christian views too?

It is being reported that he confessed to the police and said that his goal was to provoke a race war. I don't see how anti-religious views would be relevant to starting a race war. Regardless, I haven't heard that he has expressed such views.

[Anonymous]

I heard conservative media has been portraying this as an attack on Christianity (haven't seen myself; from a friend). So, interesting if he hasn't actually espoused anti-Christian views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard conservative media has been portraying this as an attack on Christianity (haven't seen myself; from a friend). So, interesting if he hasn't actually espoused anti-Christian views.

I watched fox news throughout the day yesterday and they kept calling it a hate crime against African Americans. I did see one segment where it was questioned why he chose a church, was it an attack on Christianity as well as a hate crime. Which I think it a good question to ask.

[Anonymous]

"Which I think is* a good question to ask"^

[Anonymous]

I posted a link to a story where it states that he wanted to start a race war. I dont get why some of you are in denial.

Hes not mentioned anything anti-christian nor has anything on his page, photos, or anything suggested that. Yet, there are numerous suggestions of him holding racist views and some of you choose to ignore it and still work of the premise of the this anti christian nonsense.

He could have walked in that church with a note saying "I hate black people", a tat wit the phrase"Nwords die", and been screaming "fuck black people" as he was shooting and some of you would still be clinging on to this anti christian story or denying race had anything to do with it.

Just admit you are not comfortable discussing race or dont know how to approach and deal with it as opposed to running away from it and finding 9 million other explanations for folks actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted a link to a story where it states that he wanted to start a race war. I dont get why some of you are in denial.

Hes not mentioned anything anti-christian nor has anything on his page, photos, or anything suggested that. Yet, there are numerous suggestions of him holding racist views and some of you choose to ignore it and still work of the premise of the this anti christian nonsense.

He could have walked in that church with a note saying "I hate black people", a tat wit the phrase"Nwords die", and been screaming "fuck black people" as he was shooting and some of you would still be clinging on to this anti christian story or denying race had anything to do with it.

Just admit you are not comfortable discussing race or dont know how to approach and deal with it as opposed to running away from it and finding 9 million other explanations for folks actions.

I don't admit that. It was obviously racially-motivated, a hate crime, may be considered a terrorist attack (I think that's debatable). Asking about whether the location was immaterial or was an additional facet of targeting is not running away from race.

I'm white and a Christian and I admit, I first thought this was a random shooting like Aurora or Sandy Hook, but it seems more like a terrorist attack than a mass shooting. We all come here to discuss it, and the discussion evolves as more facts are known and brought to light.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted a link to a story where it states that he wanted to start a race war. I dont get why some of you are in denial.

Hes not mentioned anything anti-christian nor has anything on his page, photos, or anything suggested that. Yet, there are numerous suggestions of him holding racist views and some of you choose to ignore it and still work of the premise of the this anti christian nonsense.

He could have walked in that church with a note saying "I hate black people", a tat wit the phrase"Nwords die", and been screaming "fuck black people" as he was shooting and some of you would still be clinging on to this anti christian story or denying race had anything to do with it.

Just admit you are not comfortable discussing race or dont know how to approach and deal with it as opposed to running away from it and finding 9 million other explanations for folks actions.

I don't admit that. It was obviously racially-motivated, a hate crime, may be considered a terrorist attack (I think that's debatable). Asking about whether the location was immaterial or was an additional facet of targeting is not running away from race.

I'm white and a Christian and I admit, I first thought this was a random shooting like Aurora or Sandy Hook, but it seems more like a terrorist attack than a mass shooting. We all come here to discuss it, and the discussion evolves as more facts are known and brought to light.

+1 to the bolded. Asking questions about why there, why those victims takes nothing away from the fact that this was racially motivated. I don't think anyone is disputing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard conservative media has been portraying this as an attack on Christianity (haven't seen myself; from a friend). So, interesting if he hasn't actually espoused anti-Christian views.

I watched fox news throughout the day yesterday and they kept calling it a hate crime against African Americans. I did see one segment where it was questioned why he chose a church, was it an attack on Christianity as well as a hate crime. Which I think it a good question to ask.

Where do you go if you want to commit a hate crime/terrorist attack against a large group of black people, and you're in the South? A church is one possibility, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

I feel so sorry for these people and their families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted a link to a story where it states that he wanted to start a race war. I dont get why some of you are in denial.

Hes not mentioned anything anti-christian nor has anything on his page, photos, or anything suggested that. Yet, there are numerous suggestions of him holding racist views and some of you choose to ignore it and still work of the premise of the this anti christian nonsense.

He could have walked in that church with a note saying "I hate black people", a tat wit the phrase"Nwords die", and been screaming "fuck black people" as he was shooting and some of you would still be clinging on to this anti christian story or denying race had anything to do with it.

Just admit you are not comfortable discussing race or dont know how to approach and deal with it as opposed to running away from it and finding 9 million other explanations for folks actions.

I don't admit that. It was obviously racially-motivated, a hate crime, may be considered a terrorist attack (I think that's debatable). Asking about whether the location was immaterial or was an additional facet of targeting is not running away from race.

I'm white and a Christian and I admit, I first thought this was a random shooting like Aurora or Sandy Hook, but it seems more like a terrorist attack than a mass shooting. We all come here to discuss it, and the discussion evolves as more facts are known and brought to light.

+1 to the bolded. Asking questions about why there, why those victims takes nothing away from the fact that this was racially motivated. I don't think anyone is disputing that.

I suspect he targeted Clementa Pinckney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Dylann Roof has confessed to authorities to shooting and killing nine people this week at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, two law enforcement officials said Friday.

One of the officials said that Roof, who is white, told investigators that he wanted to start a race war.

He himself bought the .45-caliber handgun used in the shooting last April at a Charleston gun store, according to the two officials. Earlier, a senior law enforcement official had indicated that Roof’s father bought him a Glock firearm for his birthday.


http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting-main/


is this clear enough for folks on his motives, or do we still "need more facts"?

More information is always better than less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard conservative media has been portraying this as an attack on Christianity (haven't seen myself; from a friend). So, interesting if he hasn't actually espoused anti-Christian views.

I watched fox news throughout the day yesterday and they kept calling it a hate crime against African Americans. I did see one segment where it was questioned why he chose a church, was it an attack on Christianity as well as a hate crime. Which I think it a good question to ask.

Where do you go if you want to commit a hate crime/terrorist attack against a large group of black people, and you're in the South? A church is one possibility, unfortunately.

And I don't think we can overstate the importance of choosing this particular church, if in fact he had the brains to recognize that. (Maybe it was just coincidence.) He lived in Eastover, SC, which is a goodd 100+ miles from Charleston. I haven't heard any reports on this but I would be curious to know if he actually drove to Charleston that day to select this church. Or was he already in the area? There are plenty of AME churches in Columbia/ Lexington that he could have more conveniently targeted.

Regardless, he was definitely looking for black victims and knew a church would be the place to find them.

[Anonymous]

The bit about Dylann Roof almost not going through with it because the victims were so kind to him breaks me apart. I take solace though, in knowing in their last moments they were projecting kindness and empathy, maybe even prayer and forgiveness.

Better people than me, for sure.