June 18, 2015 — New York, New York
AJC is outraged by the heinous attack inside an historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, that left the congregation’s pastor and eight others dead. The suspect, a white male, reportedly was attending a prayer meeting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for an hour before he opened fire.
“This horrific massacre of innocents at prayer is extreme depravity,” said Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC’s Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations. “We are shocked beyond words that someone could enter a house of worship in our country and commit such a horrific crime, all the more so if it was racially motivated.”
“There must be no place for such violence and bigotry,” Marans added. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families as we reaffirm our commitment to civil rights and freedom of religion which were trampled by this hateful act."
Charleston authorities have called the attack a hate crime and have apprehended the suspect.
