Families of Charleston Church Massacre Victims Reach $88M Settlement

Six years after a white-supremacist gunman walked into a historically Black Charleston church and murdered nine people attending Bible study, the victims’ family members have reached an $88 million settlement with the Justice Department. The money is meant to help rectify a background-check failure that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun that he used to senselessly slaughter members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof, convicted of federal hate crimes and sentenced to death, has shown no contrition for his actions, telling investigators he had every intention of starting a race war.

Federal officials have repeatedly said the screwup in the background-check system was not just the FBI’s fault, but local law enforcement’s fault, and have to this day refused to admit guilt. “We in the FBI, like everyone in the country, were horrified by the senseless act of violence, and today we continue to grieve with the families whose pain remains fresh from this unspeakable tragedy that took place more than six years ago,” a statement read. Under the settlement terms, the money will be split among family members of those killed or wounded in the shooting.