Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the Charleston church massacre, when nine black parishioners were shot and killed inside the historically black Emanuel AME Church.
Dylann Roof is charged with federal hate crimes in the shooting, and prosecutors will seek the death penalty when his trial begins Nov. 7.
Here's an update on what some of those affected by the massacre are saying a year later:
Rev. Dr. Betty Deas Clark
The Rev. Betty Deas Clark,
pastor of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, told The Greenville News that the church is “healing and will heal,” but that there are still layers of pain and hurt “and some issues only time will heal.” Clark took over as pastor for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was among the nine killed in the shooting.
Clark told The Greenville News she believed the tragedy “has changed the world.”
"We deal with people being murdered, people being assassinated, even massacred,” she said. "But to have it done in a church, during Bible study by someone who was befriended by a group of loving people, I think it was a wake-up call, not only for the state but for the world. I think it asked the question, 'What have we come to?'"
Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen
Reflecting on the past year, Charleston police chief Gregory Mullen said the shooting and the aftermath drove him to reach out more to the Charleston community and develop stronger relationships with its citizens. He also said he believes the shooting made Charleston stronger but added there is still work to be done in making progress on racial issues.
“We have the obligation to search out and try to find ways to make our community better for everyone,” he said.
Gov. Nikki Haley
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told The Greenville News that the Charleston community came together after the shooting, saying that “it was love and forgiveness and grace and strength that I am so proud to have witnessed in my lifetime.”
“We didn't have violence, we had vigils," she said. “We didn't have protests, we had hugs. We had people stand across the state hold hands.”
Jennifer Pinckney
Jennifer Pinckney, the wife of slain Rev. Clementa Pinckney, now chairs a foundation in honor of the late pastor and senator in addition to serving on the Women’s Coalition for Common Sense, which aims to prevent gun violence.
At an appearance at Duke University in February, Pinckney said she and others affected by the shooting were still in the process of healing, Religion News Service reported.
“I don’t even want to turn my TV on,” she said.
Survivors Felicia Sanders, Polly Sheppard
Two survivors of the shooting, Felicia Sanders and Polly Sheppard, recently went on a 10-day civil rights pilgrimage to South Africa along with other civil rights figures, The Post and Courier reported. The trip included stops at the prison island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.
The trip was organized in-part by The Faith & Politics Institute, whose president Joan Mooney told The Post and Courier that the trip was “intended to be a healing journey.”
Amber Roof
Shortly after the shooting, Amber Roof, Dylann’s older sister, started a Go Fund Me page to cover the non-recoverable costs that she and her fiancée accrued from their wedding, which was put on hold after the massacre. Her wedding was supposed to take place four days after the shooting, but the couple decided to cancel the event out of respect for the victims and their families.
“We know money cannot replace the wedding we lost and our perfect day. However, it will help us to create new memories and a new start with our new family,” she wrote on the page. After receiving public backlash for starting the page so soon after the attacks, Roof ended the fundraiser without an explanation. Roof pledged on the page to donate 10% of the funds raised to the Emmanuel AME Church.
Joey Meek
Dylann Roof’s friend Joey Meek pleaded guilty to failing to tell law enforcement about the attack when he knew of it in advance and lying to investigators, according to The Post and Courier. Meek was informed that he was under investigation in September. Meek faces up to eight years in prison.
Rev. Dr. Norvel Goff
The Rev. Dr. Norvel Goff took over as interim pastor of the Emmanuel AME Church shortly after the shooting occurred. “Mother Emmanuel Church is a point of destination for the entire nation and for the state of South Carolina,'' Goff said in June 2015. “We are a very solid part of the fabric of this community and has been a force for positive change since its inception.”
Although Goff faced allegations of mishandling donations to the church that poured in months after the massacre, The New York Times reported, he remained hopeful for the future of the parish.
“What I see is a cross-generational, cross-racial future for a church that is no longer restricted to its former self," he said, according to the Times.
Former Mayor of Charleston Joseph Riley
Joseph Riley stepped down as Mayor of Charleston in January after serving since 1975. Riley spoke with Garden & Gun magazine and praised his citizens’ compassion for each other in the aftermath of the shooting.
“They felt that there was love here," he said. "It’s a word we use a lot, but I think certainly the African American community knew that this was their city, and these are their neighborhoods, and I was their mayor and we were going to handle this together. We were going to take care of each other.”
Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg
Mayor John Tecklenburg had the challenging task of not only stepping into office after 40 years of Riley’s service but also serving a community still coming together after the tragedy. Tecklenburg noted that as the city moves forward, it is working to put into action the beliefs around justice that the victims of the shooting had.
“We are digging down, reaching in to think and act more in accord with a sense of unity and the aspirations of those who were killed, notably Reverend Pinckney, who had a profound sense of fairness, community service and concerns about injustice in both our community and the world,” he said. “We are trying to move from just a showing of unity to a resolve to improve our community.”
Tecklenburg praised the members of the Emmanuel AME Church for setting an example for the world on how to address issues of race relations and injustice.
