There are nine people who are murdered inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church here in charleston last night. Cynthia herd, 54. Manager of one of the busiest branches in the Charleston CountyPublic Library system where she worked for 31 years. The lie rather will be renamed in her honor. Reverend Daniel Simmons sr. Died in the operating room. He was 74. Retired in 2005 as Charleston County director of the Community DevelopmentBlock Grant Program which funds Affordable Housing and local development. She was a mother of four. Tawanza sanders, 26. He got a degree from the division of business administration. Myron thompson, 59, the wife of reverend anthony thompson, a nearby church in charleston. A mom to three children, a speech pathologist and coach for a Girls Track Team team outside charleston. Susie jackson was 87, at church with her sister who also died at the scene who was 70 years old. Finally, reverend pinckney, the pastor, first yore darrened at age 18 and was elected to the South Carolina house of representatives just five years later. Age 27, he became the youngest member of the state senate. His seat in that chamber covered in black, a cloth of mourning today. Pinckney described by a colleague as the moral conscience of the state senate helped build support for a bill mandating body cameras for his officer. Last month he delivered an impassioned speech on the senate floor. When we were able to see the video, and we were able to see the gunshots, and when we saw him fall to the ground and when we saw the Police Officer come and handcuff him on the ground, without even trying to resuscitate him, without even seeing if he was really alive, without calling an ambulance, without calling for help, and to see him die face down in the ground as if he were our hearts go out to the scott family. Our hearts go out to the flagler family because the lord teaches us to love all and we pray that, over time, that justice be done. Body camera bill was signed into law last week. All nine victims were attending a bible study on a wednesday night at the church. One of the oldest black churches in the south, the oldest south of baltimore known locally as mother emanuel. According to police the alleged shooter entered the church around 9 00 p. M. Attending the prayer meeting for almost an hour before opening fire. Sylvia johnson, reverend pinckneys cousin described what she was told about how it unfolded. From my understanding the suspect came to the church and he asks for the pastor, wheres the pastor. They showed him where the pastor was. He sat next to my cousin, reverend pinckney, for throughout the entire bible study. According to the charlton post and courier, a female survivor told family members the gunman addressed her direct telling her he was letting her live so she could tell everyone else what happened. Johnson said she got a chance to speak with one of the survivors. She said that he had reloaded five different times and her son was trying to talk him out of doing that act of killing people and he just said i have to do it. He said, you rape our women and you taking over our country and you have to go. Joining me now from columbia sorry. Joining me, chris jansing, my colleague. What do we know about the man who is suspected or alleged to have done this . 21 years old. Hes walking in to the Mother Emanuel Church. He looks like nothing. Turns out there was something very deep and serious going on. Obviously based on the last few seconds before he opened fire, a deep hatred, certainly said some racially charged things. And was known to police a little bit. Had some very lowlevel runins with the law on drugs and the question really is for investigators now as they bring him back to this city and they want to look deeper into it, what everybody wants to know i spent most of my night last night talking to the community, why. Theres no good reason for that. Right . But what was the motivation. How did this happen. When we heard last night the initial details start to come through, a shooting in a black church, suspect is white. First thing you start to think is, okay, what is his motivation. As we learn more about this individual, dylann roof, pictures of him with the flag of the apartheid flag, the license plate of the Confederate States of america. Interviews emerging from people that knew him that frankly say he was racist. He wanted to restart the civil war. He was obsessed with that. The more details again, this is an alleged gunman at this point. The more you learn the more it looks like the hate crime that it was described as the mayor last night. You go into a church where theyre having a bible study. You sit there for an hour. This is a welcoming place. He came in and asked for the pass store. He was escorted to the chair next to the pass store because he was a newcomer. Pastor wanted him to feel welcome. He sat and looked in the hours for an hour. At the end of that open fire and killed in close range an 87yearold woman who had been sitting in bible study. Chilling. Absolutely. We dont know how many shots were fired but we know it wasnt a lot. We know it was at close range. We know that he first shot two people and then said that he was trying to be encouraged to stop shooting and he wouldnt, he said he had to do it. This is somebody who went in there obviously with a plan. We dont know what was going through his mind for that hour but the idea of him being in there, looking them in the eye, is almost unbearable. One more point. I just came from there. Ive been talking to people over the last almost 24 hours now. To a person, chris, they say to me violence cannot be answered with violence. I just spoke to somebody whos on the board of that chunk who knows all nine of these people who was very close to the pastor who is related through marriage to another one of the victims and he said to me, tomorrow forgiveness. Lot of people here who are working through a lot of emotions to get to there. A sort of remarkable scene of grace to be able to get there that quickly after the atrocity committed here. Joining me now from columbia, South Carolina now, reverend steven singleton, former pastor of Mother Emanuel Church. Pastor, my condolences. It is no small comfort but i am so sorry for the loss that your former church and your community is experiencing. How are you feeling today . Im doing okay. Were getting through it. I just came back from charleston. Spoke to a lot of people and receiving a lot of phone calls and its been very, very encouraging and were going to get through it. Thats what we do. We persevere. Can you talk a little bit about this church, how central it was, not just to its parishioners but to all of charleston, all of the black south, frankly, and what it means as a place, what its resonance was as a place of worship and as of a place of social struggle . Mother emanuel is a cornerstone, a well known landmark in the city of charleston. It is the third oldest congregation in the african methodist episcopal church. The early years of that congregation also included denmark visi who attempted to plan an insurrection and flee the slaves. That was put down. The church was in a different location at that time. After the civil war they built the structure that we see now as a statement to the world that people of color can do things that other people can do. Its a majestic structure. It is very impressive from its rustic Hardwood Floors to the imported pipe organ. They take a lot of pride in that structure, take a lot of pride in the history of that congregation. And it has been a hub for advocacy, for africanamericans in South Carolina. Dr. King spoke at that church during civil rights movement. It was a place of planning the strategies when they were fighting for their rights. And because of this history and this legacy, it will survive, it will live on, and it will thrive in the future. Reverend pinckney weve heard so much, he among the dead, someone who is almost something of a prodigy. A rising star. His first church at 18. Youngest person ever elected to the state legislature. But also ever testimony ive ever heard from talking to folks here today, how soft spoken, how quiet, how humble he was for someone who had so many accolades, such obvious charisma at such a young age. Yeah. The way i describe reverend pinckney though is a statesman. He was soft spoken. He was humble. But he took his business very, very seriously. He had that deep voice and when he spoke to you, you knew he meant business. He was serious. He was always a servant of the people. As a servant of god. I think he understood that you cant serve god unless you serve people. I remember when he was elected to to the legislature at such a young age, there were a lot of nay sayers who didnt believe he would win. He proved them wrong. A few years later he went to the state senate. He was always in public service. He will be deeply missed. And as i shared earlier with some other people, he was also a role model. I dont want us to overlook the fact that he was an africanamerican family man. We need role models like him. It is a great loss on so many levels and we just praying for the family and praying for that legacy to live on. How do you, reverend, understand what happened in that church last night . Its wednesday night bible study. Because of the historical significance of that church, visitors would pop in all the time. When i pastored there, we had visitors from all over the world. Tourists who would come to charleston and make it a point to come to mother emanuel. So when strangers walked in, it was not unusual. Arms were opened. They didnt suspect anything because there were people who popped in just to observe, just to see what was going on, just to see what was going on and what it was about. I suspect thats what they thought this young man was doing. He was sitting next to the pastor, i understand, during the lesson. After the lesson is over, theres a prayer session where we used to pray for the world, pray for world leaders, pray for the community. And from what im hearing it was kind of at that point in the service when this young man decided to unfold his point. Would it be strange for a young white man to show up at mother emanuel . Not at all. We had people of all races. We i can remember one particular sunday we had a woman from china, a man from germany, and a woman from holland. And it was just that kind of just that kind of congregation, that location, the historical significance. So a young white male wouldnt be unusual. Ive gone to that church and they were sitting on the steps and because its not too far from the college of charleston. Students would come and sit on the steps and just kind of watch the traffic go by. So, no, nothing would have been out of place with a stranger walking in and seemingly meant no harm. All right. Reverend singleton, thank you very much. Really appreciate you making time tonight. Okay. Thank you. Ahead, president obama had some sharp and mournful words about the tragedy here in charleston today. Also a little more about the racial politics of the state that seems to have berthed this tragedy. Acts like this had no place in our country and no place in a civilized society. 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Ive had to make statements like this too many times. Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times. At some point we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of Mass Violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesnt happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it. I say that recognizing the politics in this town. Foreclose a lot of those avenues right now. But it would be wrong for us not to acknowledge it. The president is exactly right. The country is so much more violent than ever other country in the developed world, especially when it comes to gun violence. Of all the nations in the oecd, only chile even comes close to the gun related murder rate here in the u. S. Were the big red bar there. According to the washington post, americans are 20 times as likely to be killed by a gun as someone from another developed country. As a nation, as a democracy, this is a path that weve chosen. And it is up to us to unchoose it. Innovation and you. Philips sonicare. Mamas, dont let your babies grow up to be cowboys dont letem pick guitars and drive them old trucks boys . Mamas, dont let your babies. Stop less. Go more. The passat tdi clean diesel with up to 814 hwy miles per tank. Hurry in and you can get 0 apr plus a onethousand dollar volkswagen credit bonus on 2015 passat tdi clean diesel models. Bennys the oldest dog in the shelter. He needed help all day so i adopted him. When my back pain flared up, we both felt it. I tried tylenol but it was 6 pills a day. With aleve its just two pills, all day. Now im back aleve. All day strong. This is a crime that has reached into the heart of that community. The department of justice has opened a hate Crime Investigation into this shooting incident. The fbi, atf, u. S. Marshal service, Civil Rights Division and u. S. Attorneys office are working closely with our state and local partners and we stand ready to offer every resource, every means and every tool that we possess. The justice departments opened a hate Crimes Investigation into the charleston massacre at a prayer vigil today. Reverend dr. Charles watkins had another characterization for the atrocity. We gather to offer our condolences and to pray with and for the families of the friends, colleagues and family members killed in a senseless tragic episode of domestic terrorism. This of course not the first time weve seen an act of domestic terrorism against africanamerican house of worship. It is also a continuation of attacks upon black churches that occurred throughout the history of this nation. Joining me now, civil rights activist Kevin Alexander gray, coeditor of killing trayvon. Sorry to be here under these circumstances. What do you think about that term everybody is using which strikes me as a fairly accurate one given the circumstances given the reporting weve heard that he literally said to someone im letting you go so you will tell people what happened, that this was domestic terrorism. Sometimes the word terrorism is overused. Maybe we just ought to call a crime, that he committed murder and we ought to charge him for murder. This idea that were going to put somebody in jail for 100 years and add on an extra 50 years, just have one standard charge him for murder, we dont need to be expanding this idea of a war on terrorism. No question it was a heinous act. But the idea that we use this term terrorism so freely, unless were going to talk about the structure of the White Supremacy in this country that keep people unstable, keep people movable, keep people as second class citizens i just think that the term is overused at this point in time. It is interesting to hear you say that. Ive seen this frustration, this anger from so many people that in the case of boston, for instance, which we used the term terrorism there as people are trying to terrorize people, that committed murder, that term is used. When Lindsey Graham is asked on the view about the motivation, take a listen. I cant explain this. I dont know what would make a young man at 21 get so sick and twisted to kill nine people in a church. Do you feel like it is a hate crime or do you think it is more mentally disturbed . Probably both. One probably precludes the other. Theyre real people out there organized to kill people and religion and based on race. This guys just whacked out. But it is 2015. There are people out there looking for christians to kill them. This is a meantime we live in. I mean it just does seem that we have now again, this is an alleged this man is alleged to commit this crime. We are reporting that indicates but as each bit indicates the picture of the white supremacist states, the flags, the Confederate States of america license plate im from South Carolina. This state is the ideological home of sprite supremacy in this country. On our state house grounds we have memorials to confederal heroes. We have streets, roads, bridges, schools, buildings named after were on calhoun street. They build the statue of calhoun so fry so that the freed slaves wouldnt tear it down. The Tourism Industry in this city is based on slavery. That young man grew up in a state that reveres its confederate history. It reveres the fact that the first shots of the civil war were fired from this city. It reveres the fact that the citadel right across town was built to crush slave rebellions. That man was born and lived in the most conservative county in the state that if you go to places where you will see Confederate Flags. They believe this is a white mans country. This is not new. If you want to talk about the ideology of White Supremacy is tichl and how its k