The Justice Department announced a multi-million dollar settlement with the families of those who were affected by the mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015. According to the press release, the 14 plaintiffs filed claims “claiming that the FBI was negligent in failing to prohibit the sale of a gun by a licensed firearms dealer to the shooter, a self-proclaimed white supremacist who wanted to start a “race war” and specifically targeted the 200-year-old historically African-American congregation.” For those who died, the settlements range from $6 million to 7.5 million dollars, with surviving receiving $5 million.
“The mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church was a heinous hate crime that inflicted enormous anguish for the families of the dead and survivors,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garlan said. “Since the day of the shooting, the Justice Department has fought to deliver justice to the community, first through a successful hate crime prosecution and now via the settlement of civil claims,” he stated. Dylann’s most recent appeal to overturn his conviction and death sentence for the 2015 slayings was refused. According to the Associated Press, a panel of three judges unanimously upheld the initial verdict on Wednesday. His attorneys said he was “incorrectly allowed to defend himself” at the sentencing phase.
Dylann was apparently “under the misconception” that if he kept his “mental-health deficiencies” hidden from the public, white nationalists would keep him out of prison. As a result, jurors were not allowed to hear testimony about his mental state. Dylann was the “first individual in the United States” to be sentenced to death for a federal hate crime at the time of the ruling. What are your thoughts on this agreement, roommates?
