As the trial against alleged Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof begins, the families of the worshipers slaughtered inside their safe haven forgive the man accused of pulling the trigger — just as they did immediately after the massacre.
Just two days after nine people were killed inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, mourning loved ones vocalized their mercy and compassion for the accused gunman, even before they had a chance to bury the dead.
“That’s genuinely who these people are,” attorney Andrew Savage, who represents some of the victim’s family members, told the Daily News. “That’s in their DNA. And for those of us who do not have that same faith, it’s hard to imagine — but it’s ingrained in them.”
Roof, 22, faces state and federal charges for the 2015 gun rampage, with both cases carrying the death penalty. Jury selection for his state murder case begins Monday.
Those who lost their mothers and fathers, their daughters and sons, their brothers and sisters in the massacre plan to pack the courtroom throughout the trial — just as they did for Roof’s initial court hearing more than a year ago.
“A lot of us will be there,” Nadine Collier, the daughter of victim Ethel Lance, told the News. “I will be there.”
‘This is a spiritual forgiveness’
Collier was the first family member to speak out at Roof’s bond hearing, held two days after her 70-year-old mother was killed during a Wednesday night bible study. It would be another week before Lance’s funeral.
“I forgive you,” Collier said, fighting back tears as she addressed Roof at the June 19, 2015 hearing. “I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you … If God forgives you, I forgive you.”
Following Collier’s lead, one by one, other grieving loved ones stood up to speak about the people they lost — and to forgive the man accused of taking their lives.
Bethane Middleton-Brown, the sister of DePayne Middleton-Doctor, said her family would not “let hate win.”
“She taught me that we are the family that love built,” she said of Middleton-Doctor. “We have no room for hating, so we have to forgive. I pray God on your soul.”
A similar sentiment came from Wanda Simmons, the granddaughter of Daniel Simmons.
“Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof, everyone’s plea for your soul, is proof that they lived in love and their legacies will live in love,” she said.
The heartbroken loved ones didn’t plan on speaking at the hearing, Savage said. They didn’t bring notes and they didn’t coordinate their speeches.
The forgiveness was just a “natural reaction,” he said.
“They just spoke from the heart. This is a spiritual forgiveness,” he told the News.
June 17, 2015
Roof went to the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church guised as a worshiper, police said. He sat in the Wednesday night Bible for nearly an hour, praying alongside the very people authorities say he planned to kill.
At some point during the weekly church meeting, he pulled out a gun and opened fire, investigators said. Survivors said Roof waited to begin shooting until his faithful targets closed their eyes in prayer.
“We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with welcome arms,” survivor Felicia Sanders told Roof during the June 2015 hearing. The grandmother lived through the nightmare by playing dead — but she watched her son die inside the church.
“Tywanza Sanders was my son. But Tywanza Sanders was my hero. Tywanza was my hero,” she said through tears. “May God have mercy on you.”
By the end of the bloodbath, nine people, including the church’s senior pastor, were dead.
Three people — Felicia Sanders, her 11-year-old granddaughter and one other churchgoer — survived the attack.
The shooter fled the church, sparking a multi-state manhunt for the killer. Police caught Roof one day later, a state away in North Carolina.
After his arrest, investigators found his hate-filled manifesto, in which he chillingly claimed he has “no choice” but to kill black people. Photos on social media showed him waving the Confederate flag.
The shooting and the jarring images of the alleged killer with the Rebel flag sparked a nation-wide discussion about the Southern banner.
Critics pointed to the massacre as proof that the flag stands for racism and bigotry. Less than a month after the killings, South Carolina removed the flag from its Statehouse grounds.
Two trials
The state trial against Roof is expected to extend through the rest of the year, meaning the holiday season will be peppered with long days in court. Testimony likely won’t begin until after Thanksgiving.
Roof faces a second trial for federal charges, including murder and hate crimes, next year.
Roof’s family begged for privacy on the eve of the first trial.
“We are still in anguish and shock that a member of our family could have committed such a terrible, senseless crime,” the family wrote in a statement Tuesday. “We are still struggling to understand why Dylann caused so much grief and pain to so many good people.”
‘Everyone will be there’
It’s not clear if mourning loved ones will pack the court at every stage of the lengthy trial, and many may choose to skip basic courtroom proceedings.
But still, a large coalition of family members have made it a point to sit in the aisles at some point to represent the slain churchgoers.
“It’s important to them to be there,” Savage said. “Everyone will be there.”
This time around, the families may not address the courtroom with the moving words they brought to Roof’s first hearing. But even in silence, the sentiment lingers.
When asked if she still forgives the man who killed her mother, nearly a year and a half later, Collier did not hesitate.
“I do,” she said.
