Charleston Shooter Said He Wanted To Start A Race War

Dylann Roof made an appearance in court today as he was formally charged with nine counts of murder, and possession of a firearm, in the horrific shooting he is accused of in South Carolina.

Dylann Roof’s court appearance

Roof showed no emotion as he faced some of the victims family members who addressed him in court.

“I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you,” a daughter of Ethel Lance said. “And have mercy on your soul. You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people but God forgives you, and I forgive you.”

Felicia Sanders, the mother of victim Tywanza Sanders , said that “every fiber in my body hurts, and I will never be the same.”

“As we said in the Bible study, we enjoyed you,” she said of Roof. “But may God have mercy on you.”

Dylann Roof admits he carried out the crime at the historic African  American church in Charleston South Carolina, officials said. But why did he do it?

He said he wanted to start a race war.

That’s what Roof told investigators, according to one of the officials. A survivor said that Roof answered one man’s pleas to stop by saying, “No, you’ve raped our women, and you are taking over the country … I have to do what I have to do.”

Roof admitted to authorities he attacked the unarmed parishioners for a political purpose.

What led Roof to carry out such a heinous act that Wednesday night? What made him choose that church? Did anyone help him carry out this plan? These are all questions that many are seeking answers for.

A classmate of Roof, Joey Meek, told CNN that the 21-year-old said was quiet and was very much into segregation.

“He wanted it to be white with white, and black with black,” Meek said, adding that he took Roof’s gun as a precaution that night only to put it back the next morning. “He had it in his mind, and he didn’t really let nobody know (what he was going to do).”

Meek said he told Roof then that he “didn’t agree with his opinion at all,” but he didn’t talk to authorities until Thursday, when he noticed surveillance photos and called a police hotline.

“Dylann wasn’t a serious person, no one took him serious,” Meek said. “But if someone had taken him serious, this all would all have been avoided.”

Source CNN