Charleston, One Year Ago

A year to the day has passed since the murder of nine African-American church goers at Charleston, SC's Emanuel AME Church. On June 17, 2015, racist killer Dylann Roof walked into the church as some of its parishioners were gathered in Bible study, sat among them, and then calmly, methodically killed them. Pictures of Roof with the treasonous Confederate flag and assorted weapons quickly made the rounds on social media, after he was arrested fleeing from the scene.

The reaction to the church murders was public disbelief, revulsion, and anger that this 22 year old racist psychopath had taken the lives of those good people for no other reason than their race. It shamed South Carolina's right-wing state government into removing the Confederate flag from state capitol grounds, albeit in an obnoxious, unnecessarily formal ceremony. There were the familiar "thoughts and prayers" offered from those fighting against minimal gun safety laws / background checks, but nothing of substance from the legislative employees of the gun lobby.

One of the most moving things we witnessed last year was Nadine Collier standing in a courtroom not long after the murders and saying that she forgave Roof for the heinous act that took the life of her mother. The struggles of the victims' families a year after the massacre continue. Roof will have his day in court to face mass murder charges, starting in Federal court in November and in State court in January. He faces the death penalty in both court venues. What a shame they won't be able to execute him twice.