Police say the man suspected of shooting and killing nine people to death inside a historic black church Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina has been arrested. In a speech Thursday President Barack Obama tied this shooting to a history of racism and gun violence in America. For local reaction, WMNF interviewed Gaida Kambon, the secretary general of the African Peoples’ Socialist Party.
more information via AP:
Police say 21-year-old Dylann Roof was arrested today in a car on a road in Shelby, North Carolina. They say Roof cooperated with the officer who stopped him. Police say he stayed at a prayer meeting for nearly an hour before opening fire.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremists and hate groups, says it was not aware of Dylann Roof before last night’s shooting in Charleston. And some friends say they did not know him to be racist. But on his Facebook page, he wore a jacket with the flags of the former white-racist regimes of South Africa and Rhodesia. For local reaction, I spoke with
Before the suspect was taken into custody, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the shooting was being investigated as a hate crime.
