Charleston church shooting victims, DOJ reach $88M settlement

The Justice Department announced an $88 million settlement Thursday (October 28th) with victims’ families and survivors of a 2015 church shooting in which a white supremacist killed nine people during an evening service at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

$88 million settlement

The 14 plaintiffs filed civil cases against the FBI over accusations the agency was negligent in failing to prohibit the sale of the firearm Dylan Roof used in the massacre inside the iconic church.

The $88 million settlement in total range from $6 million to $7.5 million for people who were killed, and $5 million for survivors, according to the Justice Department.

“The mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church was a horrific hate crime that caused immeasurable suffering for the families of the victims and the survivors,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

“Since the day of the shooting, the Justice Department has sought to bring justice to the community, first by a successful hate crime prosecution and today by settling civil claims.”

Rev. Anthony Thompson, who lost his wife, Myra, in the attack, praised federal authorities for reaching an amicable agreement.

“In spite of losing my wife, this brought the state together, it brought a church together, it brought a nation together,” Thompson said during a press conference.

Jennifer Pinckney, widow of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who also died in the shooting, said no amount of money could fill the family’s void.

Pinckney was the head pastor and a South Carolina state senator at the time of the shooting.

“He was an excellent father to our daughters,” Pinckney said. “He was an excellent husband. We have to continue on.”

Eliana Pinckney, one of Pinckney’s daughters, said she has devoted her life to “uplifting” her father’s legacy.

Lawsuit

The plaintiffs maintained the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System failed to discover that the shooter was a person prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm, which allowed him to buy the handgun used in the crime.

Since the shooting, the FBI has worked to strengthen and improve the background check process, according to a Justice Department statement, adding that the department and FBI are working to combat gun violence as part of the department’s violent crime reduction strategy.

Dylann Roof was convicted and sentenced to death for killing nine congregants during Bible study on June 17, 2015.