9 Dead In Terrorist Attack On Charleston Church
Yes, we are saying it: when a man walks into a church at which a Bible study is underway and kills nine people with gunfire, that is a terrorist act. And that description is reinforced when a spokesman for that city’s police department says at a 1 AM news conference, “I do believe it was a hate crime.”
A white gunman opened fire Wednesday evening at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, S.C., before fleeing, the police said, and nine people were killed.
The Charleston Police Department said the shooting occurred at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church about 9 p.m.
Officials did not release information about possible victims. Chief Greg Mullen said the police believed it was a hate crime.
The police described the gunman as a clean-shaven white man about 21 years-old who was wearing a gray sweatshirt, bluejeans and Timberland boots.
Around 10:45 p.m., police officers at the scene drew their weapons and later escorted a man in handcuffs, who appeared to match that description. But officials said later that they were still searching for the gunman.
Reporters said families of the possible victims were arriving at the scene.
A reporter at the scene late Wednesday said the police pushed back members of the news media after receiving a bomb threat.
Helicopters with searchlights circled overhead, and a group of pastors knelt and prayed across the street.
The scene of the terrorist act is not likely to have been a random choice. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, and was an important refuge for black worshipers during the slave era:
The church’s history, so interwoven with Charleston’s, begins around 1816 when Morris Brown, a free shoemaker and devout Methodist, walked out of a predominantly white and racially segregated Methodist Church in Charleston.
Brown formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Charleston, now Emanuel AME Church on Calhoun Street. Since that day, the AME Church has proven pivotal in South Carolina in matters of faith and social justice.
Denmark Vesey was a founding member who led failed slave rebellion that drove the church underground for decades, Darby said.
Someone reported the plot to authorities and during the chaos and paranoia that ensued, the church was burned. Congregants slipped underground to worship until 1865 when the church formally reorganized and adopted the name Emanuel.
Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo
David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.
* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.
23 responses to 9 Dead In Terrorist Attack On Charleston Church
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fahvel June 18th, 2015 at 02:57
you people abuse the word terrorist to such a degree that it becomes meaningless. Yes, possibly a hate crime, or an add for Timberland boots – but not a terrorist attack of any kind –
Darksnark June 18th, 2015 at 05:43
This massacre does, indeed, fit both the generic definition of terrorism http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism and the FBI’s definition of the term https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition
Which is precisely why the FBI has declared this act of mass-murder to be domestic terrorism….
Anomaly 100 June 18th, 2015 at 07:10
Domestic terrorism at its finest.
Fred Pine June 18th, 2015 at 07:49
He is a terrorist! He has all the earmarks of one, including being stupid. Just the way he dresses wearing cheap over-sized clothes proves he is lowlife.
causeican June 18th, 2015 at 08:02
Please describe “you people”. Should be fun.
dave-dr-gonzo June 18th, 2015 at 08:25
If, by “you people”, you mean the Bush Regime.
Talibandrew Breitbot June 18th, 2015 at 08:47
As a veteran of writing marketing and ad copy, this is probably not something Timberland wants associated with their brand…
Anomaly 100 June 18th, 2015 at 07:10
Here’s the dirtbag’s photo.
Fred Pine June 18th, 2015 at 07:41
What thrift store did he steal his clothes from?
Pilotshark June 18th, 2015 at 09:04
seems to maybe have a wig on? or placed a bowl over his head as a disguised, pants seem to be baggie, wonder if he maybe had diapers on for an long distance get away.
anyhow my condolences to the families.
may the dead RIP, and reach the place they all have looked towards.
Talibandrew Breitbot June 18th, 2015 at 10:20
That was my first reaction to the hair. Nobody wears an Emo Phillips haircut these days. Sloppy disguise?
whatthe46 June 18th, 2015 at 10:45
lol. new pictures emerges. it’s his fricken hair. lol. it’s not a wig.
Foundryman June 18th, 2015 at 11:00
This is what a skinhead in disguise looks like.
whatthe46 June 18th, 2015 at 11:12
lmfao!
William June 18th, 2015 at 09:23
***
crc3 June 18th, 2015 at 11:37
The NRA and other gun loving 2nd Amendment radicals should be so proud. This is one of the biggest black eyes in American history and it continues to get worse and worse because our government leaders are COWARDS and rich from NRA bribes…
ExPFCWintergreen June 18th, 2015 at 09:55
Cue InfoWars “false flag!” in 3, 2, 1….
crc3 June 18th, 2015 at 10:14
I doubt he will be found alive. Cowards like this don’t usually hang around for an arrest to be made and even if he is found alive he may be gunned down in resistance to his arrest. All speculation mind you but this is just another tragic massacre to add to all the others. The list will continue to grow because our leaders continued to be bought by the NRA who pushes 2nd Amendment rights like it’s some kind of end all cure. We live in a effed up country with leaders who are cowards and refuse to stand up to groups like the NRA. Money talks and dead people continue to pile up. Which side are you on?
crc3 June 18th, 2015 at 11:28
Well…he was captured in Shelby, NC according to CBS news…
Talibandrew Breitbot June 18th, 2015 at 10:52
Salon.com is only half a day behind Liberaland.
“Call it what it is: The Charleston shooting is domestic terrorism” http://www.salon.com/2015/06/18/call_it_what_it_is_the_charleston_shooting_is_domestic_terrorism/
crc3 June 18th, 2015 at 11:26
Just announced that this p.o.s. has been captured in NC…
Vladamir Muhammud June 18th, 2015 at 12:05
Two words: White terrorism!
No way out June 18th, 2015 at 15:52
Arrest his teajhadist pops