Attack in Charleston
Coordinates: 32 ° 47 '14 " N , 79 ° 55' 59" W.
 
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Assassination attempt in Charleston in 2015 |
In the attack in Charleston , the 21-year-old white US citizen Dylann Storm Roof (born April 3, 1994 in Columbia , South Carolina ) shot and killed nine African Americans on June 17, 2015 during a Bible study in a church in Charleston, South Carolina . The investigative authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), are investigating a racially motivated hate crime and possible terrorism .
On January 10, 2017, Dylann Roof was sentenced to death by a jury panel.
background
The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Emanuel AME Church) , usually called Mother Emanuel for short because of its importance as the southern mother church of the African Methodist Episcopal Church , is located in Mazyck-Wraggborough . It was founded in 1816 under the leadership of Morris Brown as a split from the White-dominated Methodist Episcopal Church . This makes it one of the oldest independent " black " church congregations in the southern United States and the oldest in South Carolina (hence the name Mother).
One of the founding members was Denmark Vesey , a former slave who bought himself out in 1799 at the age of 32 after winning the lottery. After his self-liberation he worked as a carpenter, but could never save enough money to buy his wife and children out of slavery as well. The church he co-founded was supported by white clergymen.
By 1818 the number of black parishioners rose to 1848. The authorities reacted restrictively and closed the church twice over the next four years for alleged violations of the law on congregations.
Vesey and a group of parishioners forged a plan in 1822 to kill the slave owners in Charleston, free the slaves and flee together to Haiti . The plan became known and the conspirators arrested. In the subsequent trial, 35 men were sentenced to death and hanged. The church building was burned down by white perpetrators, probably out of revenge.
In 1865 the church was rebuilt. In the 1960s, Mother Emanuel became a center of the black civil rights movement .
attack
A Bible study was held at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015 . According to the investigators, the perpetrator had sat with visitors to the church for about an hour before the crime and then opened fire. Six women and three men died in the hail of bullets. Among the fatalities is parish pastor Clementa Pinckney , who also served in the South Carolina Senate in Columbia .
Investigation and arrest
A 21-year-old suspect, Dylann Roof, was identified by his sister using surveillance camera images released after the crime, who then informed the authorities. A few hours after the crime, Roof was arrested at a traffic stop 7.2 kilometers west of Shelby in the northern neighboring state of North Carolina, more than 300 kilometers from the crime scene . His sister's fiancé lives about two miles from the place of arrest. Whether Roof was on his way to see him is unknown. According to the local police chief, the suspect allowed himself to be arrested without resistance; There was no evidence of accomplices. The Justice Department and the FBI Federal Police started investigations into a hate crime . The police assume a racist motive. Roof had received money from his father for his 21st birthday, which he used to buy the murder weapon.
In the course of the investigation, the FBI discovered a website registered months earlier by Roof under the name "Last Rhodesian" - an allusion to the white minority regime in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe ) that existed until 1980 . In the photos shown there, Roof poses with the Confederate flag and allegedly the murder weapon. In contrast, in some pictures, Roof spat on or burns the flag of the United States . In one text he claims that he did not grow up in a racist environment and that the event that “woke him up” was the killing of Trayvon Martin . The "white race" had a natural superiority and it was time to take back America and Europe through "drastic action". He explains that he deliberately selected Charleston as a destination because it is a historic site.
Roof himself initially pleaded not guilty on the 33 counts as he faced the death penalty. In September 2015, he had his lawyer, David Bruck, explain that he would make a confession in the trial that began on July 11, 2016 if he was sentenced to life imprisonment in return. The court sentenced him to death by lethal injection on January 10, 2017 .
Reactions
The then US President Barack Obama spoke of “senseless murders” and, in an initial statement, referred to the debate on gun law in the USA . He said innocent people died again because an evildoer had no problem getting a gun. The country as a whole needs to rethink its stance on arms. South Carolina Republican governor Nikki Haley said the crime broke "the heart and soul" of her state; she recommended that the prosecutor apply for the death penalty .
Relatives of the murder victims publicly forgave the alleged perpetrator during a hearing in Charleston. There should be no room for hatred, said a spokeswoman.
Three days after the attack, a memorial service was held in the AME Church under the direction of the new pastor. The pastor stated that the doors of the church would continue to be open for anyone to send a message. According to parishioners, nothing will be changed at the Bible study either. Thousands of people also took part in a memorial march.
On June 25, 2015, the satire platform NewsWatch33.com launched the duck that sympathizers Dylann Roofs, for the purpose of defending him, paid almost 4.3 million US dollars into a fundraising pot.
The Council of Conservative Citizens deactivated its website on June 20 due to poor publicity. Their president, Earl Holt, said that one was not responsible for Roof's actions. The organization released a statement stating that Roof had some legitimate anger against blacks and that the organization's website honestly and accurately reported violent crimes that blacks committed against whites. Harold Covington , founder of the Northwest Front, condemned Roof's crimes and called it a preview of upcoming attractions .
The Southern Poverty Law Center analyzed Roof's Manifesto and concluded that he was a regular reader and contributor to The Daily Stormer , a white nationalist website.
Confederate flag debate
In the United States, the act sparked a debate about how to deal with the southern flag. This is still hoisted on state-owned property above a war memorial in front of the South Carolina Parliament in Columbia after it was removed from the building itself in 2000. While the stars and stripes on the parliament building were raised to half-mast in honor of those who died in the attack , the Confederate flag remained unchanged because the legal regulations do not allow it to be lowered. The Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney demanded to remove the flag; President Obama supported their demands. Romney described the flag as "a symbol of racist hatred". Bush pointed out that in Florida, during his time as governor , the flag was taken to a museum "where it belongs". Representative Norman Brannon announced a corresponding bill for South Carolina. Even Nikki Haley , the governor of South Carolina, said later opposed the use of the flag on national grounds.
Under the hashtag #takedowntheflag was in the social media , a broad discussion out; an online petition for the flag to be removed was signed by hundreds of thousands of people within a few days.
The world's largest retail group, Walmart , announced that it would no longer offer merchandising products with the southern flag in its range. The department store operator Sears and the online auction house ebay have also announced that they will no longer offer such products.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dylann Roof: Charleston Gunner Sentenced to Death. welt.de, January 10, 2017, accessed on January 11, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Emanuel AME Church . National Park Service, accessed June 24, 2015
- ↑ a b Sister alerted authorities . Mail online, June 19, 2015
- ↑ Police and FBI confirm access - Charleston assassin arrested. In: haz.de. June 18, 2015, accessed June 20, 2015 .
- ^ Dylann Storm Roof: 'Manifesto' appears on website showing new pictures of Charleston gunman . The Independent, June 21, 2015
- ↑ Dylann Roof Photos and a Manifesto Are Posted on Website . New York Times, June 20, 2015
- ↑ Here's What Appears to Be Dylann Roof's Racist Manifesto . Mother Jones, June 20, 2015
- ↑ Press report from September 2015
- ^ Dylann Roof jury: Death penalty for Charleston church shooter. In: cnn.com. January 10, 2017, accessed January 10, 2017 .
- ^ Afp, Reuters: Charleston assassination attempt: alleged gunman captured. In: handelsblatt.com . June 18, 2015, accessed June 20, 2015 .
- ↑ to the address by Nikki Haley
- ↑ Divine service in Charleston: "A Message to Every Demon in Hell and on Earth" . Spiegel, June 21, 2015
- Jump up ↑ Fundraising campaign to defend Roof's
- ↑ Catherine Thompson: Group That May Have Influenced Charleston Killer: He Had Some 'Legitimate Grievances' . In: Talking Points Memo . June 22, 2015. Accessed July 4, 2015.
- ↑ Dylann Roof's manifesto resembles comments on neo-Nazi website, analysis finds . In: Los Angeles Times , June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
- ^ Controversy over the southern flag: "Proud of one's own hatred" . Spiegel, June 21, 2015
- ↑ South Carolina: Governor Wants to Ban Confederate Flag . Spiegel, June 22, 2015
- ↑ The southern flag moves the mind . NZZ, June 21, 2015
- ↑ The southern flag is to disappear from the public . Stern, June 21, 2015
- ↑ Walmart to stop selling Confederate flag merchandise . CNN, June 23, 2015
- ↑ After the church massacre: US dealers take the southern flag out of their range . Spiegel, June 24, 2015