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| Charleston shooting suspect Dylann Roof 'wanted to ignite civil war' | Charleston shooting suspect Dylann Roof 'wanted to ignite civil war' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The 21-year-old accused of killing nine black churchgoers in Charleston had been “planning something like that for six months”, his roommate has revealed, as friends recalled Dylann Roof’s tirades against African Americans “taking over the world” and his desire to ignite “a civil war”. | The 21-year-old accused of killing nine black churchgoers in Charleston had been “planning something like that for six months”, his roommate has revealed, as friends recalled Dylann Roof’s tirades against African Americans “taking over the world” and his desire to ignite “a civil war”. |
| A day after the massacre South Carolina police labelled a “hate crime”, a portrait of Roof as an apparently committed racist is building from interviews with associates of the young man, shown in Facebook photos wearing a jacket bearing the flags of the former white-racist regimes of South Africa and Rhodesia. | |
| Joseph Meek Jr, a childhood friend who saw Roof the morning of the shooting, said the pair had never discussed race growing up. But when they recently reconnected, Roof told him “blacks were taking over the world [and] someone needed to do something about it for the white race”, he told the Associated Press. | Joseph Meek Jr, a childhood friend who saw Roof the morning of the shooting, said the pair had never discussed race growing up. But when they recently reconnected, Roof told him “blacks were taking over the world [and] someone needed to do something about it for the white race”, he told the Associated Press. |
| “He said he wanted segregation between whites and blacks. I said, ‘That’s not the way it should be.’ But he kept talking about it.” | “He said he wanted segregation between whites and blacks. I said, ‘That’s not the way it should be.’ But he kept talking about it.” |
| Meek said when he woke up on Wednesday morning, Roof was at his house, sleeping in his car outside – its license plate bearing the confederate flag. | Meek said when he woke up on Wednesday morning, Roof was at his house, sleeping in his car outside – its license plate bearing the confederate flag. |
| Later that day Meek said he and some friends had gone to a nearby lake but Roof stayed behind, deciding he’d rather see a movie. The next time he saw Roof was in surveillance-camera photos distributed by police in the aftermath of the killing. “I knew it was him,” Meek said. | Later that day Meek said he and some friends had gone to a nearby lake but Roof stayed behind, deciding he’d rather see a movie. The next time he saw Roof was in surveillance-camera photos distributed by police in the aftermath of the killing. “I knew it was him,” Meek said. |
| A roommate, Dalton Tyler, said Roof had been “planning something like that for six months”. | A roommate, Dalton Tyler, said Roof had been “planning something like that for six months”. |
| “He was big into segregation and other stuff,” Tyler told ABC News. “He said he wanted to start a civil war. He said he was going to do something like that and then kill himself.” | “He was big into segregation and other stuff,” Tyler told ABC News. “He said he wanted to start a civil war. He said he was going to do something like that and then kill himself.” |
| He said Roof had been “on and off” with his parents, but they had previously bought him a gun. He hadn’t been allowed to take it with him until this week, Tyler said. | He said Roof had been “on and off” with his parents, but they had previously bought him a gun. He hadn’t been allowed to take it with him until this week, Tyler said. |
| Roof’s uncle Carson Cowles said the gun, a .45-caliber pistol, had been a gift for the introverted young man’s 21st birthday. | Roof’s uncle Carson Cowles said the gun, a .45-caliber pistol, had been a gift for the introverted young man’s 21st birthday. |
| “I said he was like 19 years old, he still didn’t have a job, a driver’s license or anything like that and he just stayed in his room a lot of the time,” Cowles said. | “I said he was like 19 years old, he still didn’t have a job, a driver’s license or anything like that and he just stayed in his room a lot of the time,” Cowles said. |
| “I don’t have any words for it. Nobody in my family had seen anything like this coming.” | “I don’t have any words for it. Nobody in my family had seen anything like this coming.” |
| A high school contemporary, John Mullins, told the Daily Beast the young Roof had been “kind of wild”. | A high school contemporary, John Mullins, told the Daily Beast the young Roof had been “kind of wild”. |
| “He used drugs heavily a lot,” Mullins said. “It was obviously harder than marijuana. He was like a pill popper, from what I understood. Like Xanax and stuff like that.” | “He used drugs heavily a lot,” Mullins said. “It was obviously harder than marijuana. He was like a pill popper, from what I understood. Like Xanax and stuff like that.” |
| He added: “He made a lot of racist jokes, but you don’t really take them seriously like that. You don’t really think of it like that.” But now, he said, it seemed that “the things he said were kind of not joking”. | He added: “He made a lot of racist jokes, but you don’t really take them seriously like that. You don’t really think of it like that.” But now, he said, it seemed that “the things he said were kind of not joking”. |
| Richard Cohen, the president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Roof was not known to his organisation, which tracks hate crimes across the US, but based on his Facebook page he appeared to be a “disaffected white supremacist”. | Richard Cohen, the president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Roof was not known to his organisation, which tracks hate crimes across the US, but based on his Facebook page he appeared to be a “disaffected white supremacist”. |
| Others expressed surprise at Roof’s crimes. “I never thought he’d do something like this,” a high school friend, Antonio Metze, told AP. “He had black friends.” | Others expressed surprise at Roof’s crimes. “I never thought he’d do something like this,” a high school friend, Antonio Metze, told AP. “He had black friends.” |
| Meek’s mother, Kimberly Konzny, described him as a “sweet kid”. “He was quiet. He only had a few friends,” she said. | Meek’s mother, Kimberly Konzny, described him as a “sweet kid”. “He was quiet. He only had a few friends,” she said. |
| Though police say Roof lived in Columbia, South Carolina, he apparently had ties to the nearby Lexington area. Roof had a mixed educational record in the Lexington school district, attending White Knoll high school in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years. He repeated ninth grade both years, but was pulled and re-enrolled more than once. He also attended White Knoll elementary school for fourth grade in 2003-04. | Though police say Roof lived in Columbia, South Carolina, he apparently had ties to the nearby Lexington area. Roof had a mixed educational record in the Lexington school district, attending White Knoll high school in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years. He repeated ninth grade both years, but was pulled and re-enrolled more than once. He also attended White Knoll elementary school for fourth grade in 2003-04. |
| The Lexington school district said it had been unable to find annual photos of Roof and that it had no records of other schools he might have attended. | The Lexington school district said it had been unable to find annual photos of Roof and that it had no records of other schools he might have attended. |
| Roof also had at least two run-ins with the law. The Lexington county district attorney’s office confirmed that Roof had been charged with possession of a controlled substance in March but the circumstances surrounding that arrest remain unclear. | Roof also had at least two run-ins with the law. The Lexington county district attorney’s office confirmed that Roof had been charged with possession of a controlled substance in March but the circumstances surrounding that arrest remain unclear. |
| He was also arrested in April for misdemeanor trespassing in Lexington county. | He was also arrested in April for misdemeanor trespassing in Lexington county. |
| On Thursday police released Roof’s mugshot and then moved him from police custody in North Carolina, on his way back to face charges in South Carolina. | On Thursday police released Roof’s mugshot and then moved him from police custody in North Carolina, on his way back to face charges in South Carolina. |
| Reuters reports that Roof had lived with his older sister Amber and their father part-time until his father and stepmother divorced. A profile on TheKnot.com shows that Amber Roof is scheduled to be married on Sunday in Lexington, South Carolina, according to Reuters. | Reuters reports that Roof had lived with his older sister Amber and their father part-time until his father and stepmother divorced. A profile on TheKnot.com shows that Amber Roof is scheduled to be married on Sunday in Lexington, South Carolina, according to Reuters. |
| After his capture in Shelby, North Carolina, on Thursday morning – after a florist spotted and tailed his car – Roof was extradited to Charleston, where he is being held in isolation at a detention center facing nine counts of murder, according to Live5 news. | After his capture in Shelby, North Carolina, on Thursday morning – after a florist spotted and tailed his car – Roof was extradited to Charleston, where he is being held in isolation at a detention center facing nine counts of murder, according to Live5 news. |
| “In America, you know, we don’t let bad people like this get away with these dastardly deeds,” the Charleston mayor, Joseph P Riley Jr, said at a press conference. | “In America, you know, we don’t let bad people like this get away with these dastardly deeds,” the Charleston mayor, Joseph P Riley Jr, said at a press conference. |
| The streets outside of Emanuel church were crowded with people who wished to pay their respects to the dead: Cynthia Hurd, 54; Susie Jackson, 87; Ethel Lance, 70; DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Clementa Pickney, 41; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Daniel Simmons, 74; Sharonda Singleton, 45 and Myra Thompson, 59. | The streets outside of Emanuel church were crowded with people who wished to pay their respects to the dead: Cynthia Hurd, 54; Susie Jackson, 87; Ethel Lance, 70; DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Clementa Pickney, 41; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Daniel Simmons, 74; Sharonda Singleton, 45 and Myra Thompson, 59. |
| Vigils were also held across the US, including in Nebraska, New York and Florida. | Vigils were also held across the US, including in Nebraska, New York and Florida. |