06/19/15 06/19/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> is very important news today is announced that that awful person that terrible human being who would go into a place of worship and people are praying and kill them, is now in custody. where he will always remain. amy: a south carolina man, 21 years old with apparent some of

these to white supremacy, has been arrested for killing nine african-american churchgoers of the emanuel african methodist episcopal church. we will speak with the pastors up two of the most prominent black churches in america reverend mark kelly tyler from philadelphia and dr. raphael dr. warnock of the ebenezer church and atlanta, georgia. then, why are so many politicians and so much of the media afraid to call the massacre terrorism? plus, in the wake of the charleston massacre, president obama renews his call for more gun control. >> we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence doesn't happen in other developed countries. it doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency.

and it is in our power to do something about it. amy: we will speak with a survivor of another massacre, virginia tech, who is dedicating his life to furthering gun control. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the suspect in the massacre at the historic black south carolina church has been arrested as the nation mourns the killing of nine pick him. 21-year-old dillon roof was detained. a friend of his said he wanted to start a new civil war. in a photo posted on facebook, dillon roof is seen wearing a black jacket that prominently features the flags of rhodesia now zimbabwe, and apartheid era south africa from when the two african countries are ruled by

the white minority. another photo appears to show roof posing a front of a car with a front plate that reads "confederate states of america." sylvia johnson, the cousin of slain pastor clementa pinckney said a survivor of the shooting recounted to her the gunman's stated motives. >> she said that he had reloaded five different times. her son was trying to talk him out of doing the act of killing people. and he just said, i have to do it. he said, you rape all women and you have taken over our country and you have to go. amy: the department of justice is investigating wednesday's attack as a hate crime motivated by racism or other prejudice. we'll spend the rest of the hour on the massacre in charleston after headlines. the vatican has unveiled pope

francis' historic encyclical on climate change, urging world leaders to pay their "grave social debt" to the poor and take swift action to save the planet from environmental ruin. pope francis calls for a change of lifestyle in rich countries steeped in a throwaway consumer culture, and an end to obstructionist attitudes that sometimes put profit before the common good. in a nearly, 200-page document the pope writes -- "climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. it represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day." presenting the encyclical, a vatican official said it should encourage the merging of environmental consciousness with spiritual teachings. >> clearly from the encyclical, the crisis is as sensitive as the -- problem. the proper relationship between humanity and the earth or its

natural environment, has been broken with the fold, both outwardly and within us. in this rapture constitutes what we call sin. the church must now introduce teachings about sin from the sin against the environment, the ecological sin. repentance must be extended to cover also the damage we do to nature both as individuals, and as societies. amy: the united nations says the number of people displaced by conflict and persecution has reached nearly 60 million worldwide. the figure includes 14 million newly displaced in 2014. the u.n. high commissioner of refugees, antonio guterres, said refugee numbers are growing while political solutions are dwindling. >> unfortunately, one year afterward, we have to announce

that in 2014, we had at the end a number of displaced persons by conflict, 69.5 million, what represents an increase of 16% in relation to 2013 and the increase of 60% in relation to 10 years ago. the world has lost much of its capacity to prevent conflicts into timely solve them in the result is the dramatic situation we are presenting today. dramatic not only because there are more and more refugees and displaced persons, but because there are less and less solutions for them. amy: workers of haitian descent held protests in the dominican republic thursday after a deadline passed for them to register their presence or risk mass deportation. half a million people could be sent to haiti under a ruling that stripped the citizenship of children born to haitian immigrants in the dominican

republic as far back as 1929 retroactively leaving tens of thousands stateless. >> it is an abuse, a threat to deport them because their family is here, raised here and they are dominicans, because they were born here. what we want is protection for them. courts after all the years spent here, i have nothing in haiti. what i want is to stay here because this is where i will receive my pension. i will not collect tension in haiti. amy: dominican officials say they will begin patrolling migrant neighborhoods to look for those who have not registered. the dominican republic's decision to denationalize hundreds of thousands of p has sparked an international outcry. the greek debt crisis remains at an impasse after talks with verizon finance ministers failed to reach a solution. the greek government and european creditors are at odds over a deal before greece's current bailout expires at the end of month. the greek government has rejected european demands for further pension cuts in exchange for a new loan to help greece meet its obligations.

the eurozone has rejected greece's latest proposals including one that would create a panel to oversee greece's reforms. imf chief christine lagarde ruled out any extension of greece's loan payment due at the end of the month. >> so on that particular issue timeline, 30th of june is the day when the loan some payment is due to the imf, and there is no grace period of two months delay as i've seen here or there. on july 1, payment has not been made. amy: a new meeting of eurozone leaders will be held next week. the greek finance minister yanis varoufakis, urged creditors to drop policies that -- demands that he said would burden greece's most vulnerable citizens. >> there is no doubt the greek government is utterly committed to adjusting further. we desperately need these reforms, but i urge my colleagues in the eurogroup to

take seriously into consideration the great difference between on the one hand reforms [indiscernible] behavior and inefficiencies and the other hand, changes that simply jack up already high tax rates and reduce benefits to the weakest. amy: aid and medical workers say the regime of syrian president bashar al-assad continues to use weaponized chlorine to attack civilians. testifying before a house panel, dr. annie sparrow of the human rights program urged the imposition of a no-fly zone in syria. >> creating i know bombs on would stop the most important tools that are being used to slaughter and terrorize syrian civilians, especially the children are the most vulnerable , as you have seen, to these toxic gases and who small bodies are literally ripped apart by the hideous shrapnel from these

explosive barrel bombs. i'm a doctor. and i'm very familiar with death. but i've never seen a more obscene way to kill children. i've never watched so many suffer in such an obscene manner. amy: the allegations of chlorine use come as the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons has reported progress in its effort to rid the world of the syrian regime's chemical weapons. the organization says just 16 tons of the 1300-ton syrian stockpile remain to be destroyed. the u.s. house of representatives has revived an effort to speech or approval of the secretive transpacific partnership free trade deal. on thursday, 28 democrats joined with republicans to approve a measure that would give president obama fast track authority to push the tpp through congress on a yes or no vote. the move came days after house democrats led a revolt against fast-track. speaking at of the vote, rosa delauro said the tpp will hurt

u.s. workers. >> the vote last friday in today's vote are critical and letting the american public know where we stand and that in fact we prioritize their economic security, their jobs, their increased wages, that we are opposed to special interest, and that is what is transpacific partnership is all about. we must -- we must reject this bill. amy: the fast-track measure now goes to the senate where it faces an uncertain future. the supreme court has ruled texas can reject license plates the beach of the confederate flag. a group called the sons of confederate veterans had sought to produce the plate is a tribute to confederate soldiers but in a five to four decision, the supreme court found license plate designs constitute government speech. two police officers in anniston alabama have been suspended over allegations they belong to a hate group. the southern poverty law center

outed the officers, both lieutenants, as members of the league of the south, a neo-confederate white-supremacist organization. nbc has restored anchor brian williams to a new role after a six-month suspension. williams was taken off the air for making false statements about the 2003 incident in iraq. she apologized after it emerged yet wrongly claimed he was on board the u.s. helicopter downed by rocket fire. american soldiers publicly challenged williams account saying he was nowhere near the aircraft that came under attack. on thursday, nbc said williams will no longer anchor the nbc nightly news, but will take on a new role during the daytime hours of msnbc. brian lens replacement lester holt, permanently becomes the first african-american to anchor the news broadcast at the major networks. abc reportedly uncovered a never of his desk a number of other

instances where williams made misleading claims but says it will not make those findings public. and the us treasure has announced plans to feature a woman on u.s. currency for the first time in 119 years. starting in 2020, an as-yet undetermined woman will appear on the $10 bill, replacing alexander hamilton. the government is seeking public input on which female historical figure to feature. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i am amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we turn now to the massacre in charleston south carolina where nine clergy and parishioners were shot dead on wednesday while participating in a bible study in one of the historic black churches in the south. on thursday, we learned the names of the nine victims. the church's pastor, 41 year old

reverend clementa pinckney, a state senator. at the age of 23, he became the youngest african-american to be elected to the state legislature. he was elected to the state senate at 27. amy: sharonda coleman-singleton was a 45-year-old mother of three, reverend, and high school track coach. juan: cynthia hurd was a 54 year old librarian. she was the manager at st. andrews regional library since 2011. amy: daniel simmons was a 74-year-old ministry staff member at emanuel ame and the former pastor of greater zion ame church in the nearby town of awendaw. juan: myra thompson was the wife of the reverend anthony thompson of charleston's holy trinity rec church. amy: depayne middleton-doctor was a 49-year-old mother of four. juan: ethel lance was a 70 year

old grandmother who had worked at emanuel ame for more than three decades. amy: susie jackson was ethel lance's cousin and the oldest victim of the massacre at the age of 87. she was a longtime member of the church. juan: tywanza sanders was the youngest victim at 26-years-old. he was recent graduate of allen university in columbia, south carolina. he graduated from the university's division of business administration. before the shooting took place tywanza posted a short video clip on snapchat where you can briefly see the suspected gunman dylann roof sitting at a table with all of the victims during the bible study. roof reportedly sat with the church members for an hour before before he opened fire. sylvia johnson, said a survivor described to her what happened inside the church.

>> from my understanding, the suspect came to the church and he asked for the pastor, where is the pastor. they showed him where the pastor was. he sat next to my cousin, reverend clementa pinckney throughout the entire bible study. at the conclusion of the bible study, from what i understand, they just started hearing loud noises ringing out. he had already wounded -- the suspect had already wounded a couple of individuals including my cousin reverend clementa pinckney. amy: sylvia johnson also recounted what she had been told by the survivor of the assailant's motives. >> she said that he had loaded -- reloaded five different times and her son was trying to talk him out of doing that act of

killing people. and he -- he just said, i have to do it. he said, you rape our women and you have taken over our country and you have to go. amy: the suspected gunman, 21-year-old dylann storm roof, led the church. he was arrested thursday morning and shall be, north carolina. a friend of his said he wanted to start a new civil war. dalton tyler said "he was bigger segregation and other stuff. he said he wanted to start a civil war. he said he was going to do something like that and then killed himself." in a photo posted on facebook, dillon roof is seen wearing a black jacket that prominently features the flags of rhodesia now zimbabwe, and apartheid era south africa from when the two african countries were ruled by the white minority. another photo posted online appears to show roof posing in

front of a car with the front license plate that reads "confederate states of america." the department of justice is investigating wednesday's attack as a hate crime, motivated by racism or other prejudice. president obama addressed the nation on thursday and spoke of the significance of the emanuel african methodist episcopal church. >> there is something particularly heartbreaking about a death happening in a place in which we seek solace and we seek peace, and a place of worship. mother emanuel is in fact more than a church. this is a place of worship that was founded by african-americans seeking liberty. this is a church that was burned to the ground because it's worshipers worked to end slavery. when there were laws banning all

black church gatherings, they conducted services in secret. when there was a nonviolent movement to bring our country closer in line with our highest ideals, some of our brightest leaders spoke and led marches from this churches steps. this is a sacred place in history of charleston, and in the history of america. amy: in a moment we will be joined by two leaders of two of the most prominent black churches in the country. we will also discussed the issue of why so many are afraid to use the word "domestic terrorism." then we will talk about gun control in the united states. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "take my hand precious lord." this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: as we continue to talk about the terse -- church massacre, we are joined by the leaders of two of the most prominent black churches in the country. in philadelphia, reverend mark kelly tyler pastor of the mother , bethel ame church in philadelphia. it is the mother church of the nation's first black denomination. he recently interviewed reverend clementa pinckney, who was killed in the charleston shooting as part of a documentary on the ame movement in south carolina. in atlanta georgia reverend dr. raphael warnock serves as senior pastor of the ebenezer baptist church in atlanta,

georgia, which was the spiritual home of dr. martin luther king jr. he is the author of, "the divided mind of the black church: eology, piety, and public witness." i want to welcome you both to democracy now! reverend mark kelly tyler, talk about the mother bethel ame church in philadelphia and its relationship to the church in south carolina. >> thank you for having us and glad to be on with my old friend raphael warnock. we were in college together. this is such a tragic experience . i think what hurts the most is the ame church is really a very close-knit family. many denominations are kind of loosely associated, but we are extremely tight. i would seek reverend pinckney and reverend simmons, who was also killed, for many yea we

uld see th at least ve or six times a year, just because the church meets and 70 different locations around the country and around the world -- so many different locations around the country and around the world. the amy church is now o fe coinen and 39 countries and i have to tell you because of the feedback i received from all over the world from other ame it is as though we have lost members of our very own congregation. many people did not know reverend pinckney like i did but they feel the pain as though, again, people in your own congregation were killed them as though this was your congregation, bible study, so many of our members can visualize that evening. we were in our church late that night, not for bible study buffer a meeting, wrapping up at the same time the tragedy was happening, just a small group. this is so deeply personal. before we can even get down to the other issues, this is really a time of extreme grief for ame. amy: i want to turn to a clip from your upcoming documentary "the ame movement in south carolina," which features the late reverend clementa pinckney. >> it is a great honor.

the church has a very proud history and has really stood for the spirit of african-americans and i would even say the spirit of american in charleston, a spirit of the in standing up for what is right and what is true. and when i say that, i mean that morris brown, the founder, believed that african-americans ought to be able to symbol -- a symbol and worship freely. as richard allen thought in philadelphia. it is interesting they were not aware of each other, but the same sort of fervor and spirit the richard allen had in philadelphia was the same kind of spirit and fervor of morris brown. and maybe that is why the became such good friends over time. other emanuel since 1818 has stood for freedom and worship for african-americans in south carolina. so it is humbling privilege i have to serve as the pastor. amy: and this is not the documentary "the ame movement in , soutcarona." again, the the late reverend clementa pinckney.

the guns were pointed in the direction of where the members slipped. just in case there was another insurrection, the state was ready. amy: this is so significant, reverend mk kelly tyler, the founding of the mother emanuel the church, in charleston with -- if you could talk about the killings of the scores of african-american men. >> absolutely. mother emanuel like the other ame churches, all of these congregations began in the late 1700s and early 1800s as a result of what became known as segregated pews. the methodist movement in america initially was very welcoming and open to african-american worshipers. it was not unusual to see enslaved people preaching to their slaveowners. it was an incredible experience. but sadly, they turned their back on their abolitionist roots and decided in order to keep and appease slaveholding methodist members who were very wealthy that they would allow blacks to

become segregated in worship will stop as a result, these persons like richard allen and morris brown led walkouts. they began churches, sometimes without even at building to worship him, and so was the story of man -- mother emanuel. by the 1820's, a class leader in the ame church, a member of morris brown's church, decided to lead a slave insurrection in charleston and he took advantage of the fact that having your own building prevented whites from coming in and overhearing you. and as a result of him using the building in such a way, when the plot was discovered and when he was hanged along with co-conspirators, the churches were destroyed in the ame church was banned. but as reverend pinckney so well says, the church did not disappear, it just went underground. and it reemerged for everyone to see at the end of the civil war. and today, the ame church, there is no state in america that has more ame in it then south carolina. there are over 700 congregations compared only 120 were so in

pennsylvania, the founding state of the ame church, and that ought to determine -- demonstrate how determine our congregation was to regain foothold in south carolina and never let our presence be gone again. juan: wasn't there particularly strong ties between the african-american community in philadelphia and that in south carolina? could you talk about the historical evolution of those ties? >> sure. yes, during the great migration in the 1900s you know, there were millions of black people left this out and came to places like philadelphia. but long before then, when morris brown's church was burned down, he was initially accused of being one of the co-conspirators. when his name was cleared, clear he had no involvement, he did not want to despair waiting around in case they trying to bring him up on charges again. so morris brown left charleston, moved to philadelphia, then began to work with bishop richard allen. and many others took that same truck. william caddo, bishop daniel alexander payne, who used to teach enslaved people and free

blacks in the 1830's, who 10 years after that event, because of the insurrection and laws that they became repressive throughout the south, also found himself leaving and ending up in philadelphia. so there was a long-established relationship where the free black community in charleston and the free black community in philadelphia had this constant interchange. it created a bond that today again, is so very strong that many people today don't even realize where that history comes from. morris brown, the founder of mother emanuel, is buried at mother bethel church next to ame founder bishop richard allen gimp, just another symbol of how strong the connection is with philadelphia in south carolina and the ame church. amy: we're also joined by dr. warnock from ebenezer baptist church in atlanta georgia, the spiritual home of dr. martin luther king, junior, author of, "the divided mind of the black church: theology, piety, and public witness." it was his church and 1974 that dr. king's mother was murdered in the ebenezer church.

dr. warnock, what has taken place in this week in charleston, what do you think needs to happen? >> it is great to be here with you and juan and great to be again here with my brother reverend mark tyler. i'm grateful for his courageous witness. as he has expressed already so very eloquently, the black church was born, literally born, fighting for freedom. ebenezer baptist church is a part of that long tradition. you really don't get to a martin luther king, junior without a richard allen in philadelphia, without the denmark jesse in south carolina without first african baptist church in georgia. so this attack on the black church is really an assault against that which is our first freedom movement. it is the mother of all freedom movements. and so our hearts go out for the families who are dealing with this devastating and unspeakable loss this father's day weekend.

we need to remember that there someone who is suffering the loss of a father -- it is just unspeakable loss. we have felt that pain, as you indicated, in our own congregation 41 years ago this very month. the precious mother of martin luther king, junior, alberta williams king, was murdered at the organ while playing the lords prayer. it is something that still resonates as part of the history of our church. there are members of my congregation who remember that they vividly when we lost on only mrs. king, but we also lost one of our deacons. and so we are vigilant. we are focused. we feel connected in a real sense, all of us at ames this weekend, but whether it is at an ame church today, or seek double in wisconsin if years ago, or muslim mosque, we have to stand up together and bear witness to the ways in which we are all inextricably tied together.

that is why our last evening, we had a multi-racial interfaith worship service at the ebenezer baptist church. the glimmer of light in this deep darkness is that people across races, faith, traditions gathered together in our sanctuary and in sanctuaries across the nation to say that we are one people. juan: i want to ask about this whole issue, not only of the role of the church as part of -- is a key part of the freedom struggle, but also the historic attacks on black churches and parishioners within churches, almost by white supremacists are those who would try to stop the freedom struggle. and also i'm a a church -- and also, the church being a quintessential place that is open to the public and welcome strangers, this idea of lack of safety that results when those who would seek to setback people struggle use the church as the killing ground. >> i mean, think about it. this is just the most heinous of

hate crimes and it is indeed an act of terror. this man sat with the congregants, and they're small and intimate gathering. i think they believe it was in the fellowship hall of the church. sat there with them during bible study, prayed with them, then preyed on them. it is just beyond words and expression. it are in a moment in america where we are dealing with a dangerous cocktail of racism and other forms of bigotry, i would include islamophobia and that -- in that. lack of access of serious mental health care and gun laws that are written at the behest of the gun lobby and those who profit from the proliferation of guns in america. as the president said yesterday other industrialized, advanced nations do not experience this at the rate we are experiencing

it. and it is time -- it is past time for us to have a serious conversation on these issues. every now and then we have a crisis like this. quite too often. there's conversation about gun reform, but nothing happens. that we have got to really get focused on this issue. people of faith. we have to push our legislators to deal with this. there is complicity on both sides of the aisle. democrats and republicans. and their inability to find the political will and strength and courage to have reasonable gun laws. and i have to express this because while this occurred in south carolina, i live in a state of georgia, which is ground zero for the guns everywhere law -- and i literally mean everywhere. guns in bars where people have taken leave of their senses in many instances guns and churches -- we did not ask for

guns in our churches, but our legislators decided that was a good idea. guns in schools, guns in the busiest airport in the world. and the other day, a man exercising, he said from his rights thanks to the acts of our legislators, brandished a huge weapon walking around in order to make a point, he said, about his second amendment right in the atlanta hartsfield jackson airport. i submit he was not exercising his second a minute rights, he was exercising his white male privilege. it is clear to me that someone who looks like me or someone who is wearing the wrong kind of addressing could not have walked through the atlanta airport and walked out in the way that he did. amy: reverend warnock, we are going to talk about gun control in a minute. i want to turn to clementa

pinckney, pastor of the emanuel ame church in south carolina state senator. he recently spoke in the south carolina senate, calling for police to wear body cameras in the wake of the shooting death of walter scott in north charleston. >> lady and gentleman of the senate, when we first heard on the television that a police officer had gunned down in unarmed african-american in north charleston by the name of walter scott, there were some who said wow. the national story has come home to south carolina, but there were many who said, there is no way that a police officer would ever shoot somebody in the back six, 7, 8 times. but like thomas, when we were able to see the video and we

were able to see the gunshots and when we saw him fall to the ground and when we saw the police officer come and handcuffed him on the ground without even trying to resuscitate him, without even seeing if he was really alive without calling in a militants are calling for help -- ambulance were calling for help and to see him die facedown in the ground as if you were gunned down like game. i believe we were all like thomas and said, i believe. what if mr. santiago was not there to record what happened? i'm sure that many of us would still say, like thomas, we don't believe. i believe that as a legislature that as a state, we have a great

opportunity to allow sunshine into this process. to at least give us new eyes for seeing thomas so we are able to make sure that our proud and great law-enforcement officers and every citizen that we represent is able to at least know that they will be seen and heard, and other rights will be protected. amy: that is the late reverend clementa pinckney also a south carolina senator, the youngest person elected to the south carolina state senate. he was elected when he was 27 years old. he was gunned down on wednesday night at the age of 41, married with two children. to talk more about the massacre in charleston, in addition to dr. warnock in alanna, we're

joined in philadelphia by anthea butler associate professor at the university of pennsylvania author of "women in the church of god in christ, making a sanctified world." she has written a new piece for the washington post is called, "shooters of color are called 'terrorists' and 'thugs.' why are white shooters called 'mentally ill'?" anthea butler, would you continue on this point? talk about the issue of who we call terrorists and who we don't. >> thank you, amy, for having me. i really respect this show. the reason why, i believe, that whites are often are white shooters especially male white shooters, are always call mentally ill, is that it is the soft peddling of the structure of racism in america. whenever you hear about a muslim doing something or suspected of doing something, or a black man

or black woman, they are always terrorist, terrorist activity, words used to describe them. they are dehumanized. they are the vilest people on earth. when somebody why do something in this country, there are excuses. white youth or young men come as dylann roof is, they are called boys. a young man like trayvon martin is called a holding young man. it is a clear sign of the racist infrastructure in this country and part of that has had to do with the media in these portrayals. and the constant drumbeat of all of these kinds of racial stereotypes and religious stereotypes that have caused us harm in this nation. juan: in terms of dylann roof and particular, they normally

have what they call a perp walk when they allow the cameras to shoot them in her out of the station. you see a situation where he is handcuffed but also has on a bullet-proof vest, which i don't recall being the situation, for instance, with the young men and the boston marathon bombing arming of these other instances that we have had. even the images that the media is allowed to see of these accused killers is very different. >> exactly. one of the things i thought yesterday about the picture of dylann roof, putting the vest on him made him seem somewhat frail when this was the same person who set in bible study for an hour then shot everybody dead. there is nothing frail about his terrorist and his racist behavior that he did. this is this -- the sense in which whiteness is so protected

-- they don't even understand, i think on how much they do it. it is just ingrained. it is a practice of law enforcement, media, and others in this nation. what is happening now, and i think this is really important to stress, is that the impact and the democratization of everybody having social media i'm having a camera on their phone, being able to show these discrepancies and show things in a profoundly different way has changed the perception of this nation and people are starting to see the truth. there are some of my twitter feed -- amy: on thursday, fox news host steve doocy expressed incredulity that the charleston shooting was a hate crime. he and his guest, pastor e.w. jackson, suggested the shooter attacked the historically black church for it's "biblical views," not because of racism. this is e.w. jackson and steve doocy. >> i'm deeply concerned this comment chose to go into a church because it does seem to be a rising hostility against christians across this country

because of o biblical views. >> some look at it as well, it is because it was a white guy probably, in a black church. the made a great point a moment ago about the hostility toward christians. and it was a church from a so maybe that is what they were talking about. they haven't explained it to us. >> most people jump to conclusions about race. i long for the day when we stopped and that in our country. but we don't know why he went into a church, but he did not choose a bar or a basketball court, he chose a church. amy: dr. warnock, this issue of domestic terrorism in the issue of hate crimes. immediately, the mayor of charleston and the police chief of charleston, both white before roof was caught but after the massacre said this is a hate crime, a very straightforward statement. the fact is, south carolina is

one of five states, along with georgia, think wyoming and indiana -- these states do not have hate crime legislation. can you talk about what it means to be a hate crime and whether you think this is outright terrorism and what that would mean if we called it that? >> this is clearly a hate crime. the perpetrator said as much. we have seen the pictures of him on his facebook page brandishing the flag of rhodesia now zimbabwe, and the days when it was basically a white supremacist state, the old apartheid south africa. so we know something about the ideology of this deeply misguided person. but it is also an act of terror, and it has to be connected historically to the long reign

of terror perpetrated against african-american communities. he said to one of the survivors yes, i'm going to allow you to survive so you can tell the story. all we had asked what worth does the story do? i'm not a lawyer. it will be interesting to see how the lawyers push back and discuss the technicalities around this, but it is clear to anybody who is looking at this, it seems to me that this is an act of terror committed -- and i'm a christian -- not because these people were christians but because they were african-american. he said that, you are raping our women and you're taking over the country. we should ask ourselves, where did he get this idea that you are taking over our country? and fox news bears a lot of

responsibility for this kind of consciousness in our country. they have trafficked this kind of political rhetoric, we need to take our country back. this 21-year-old man born in the late 1990's reminds me -- i have young nephews that age. what does he know about this? someone taught him how to hate. so we have to condemn the hate crime, condemn this act of terror, but we also have to condemn the kind of hate speech that is very often -- very often shows up as a kind of coded political speech, kind of dog whistle, the suggestion that the current occupant in the white house is somehow from somewhere else, that he is not one of us. i believe a man who spent six years saying that has now

announced he is a candidate for president of the united states. this might be -- amy: donald trump. >> it is not a joke at all. we have seen that it can have very deadly consequences. amy: reverend dr. warnock, we would like to ask you to stay with us as we move on to the issue of gun control. president obama's plea, his call yesterday in anger as he responded to the massacre in charleston. i also want to thank our guest who have been with us from philadelphia, reverend mark kelly tyler pastor of the bethel ame church, as well as anthea butler professor at the university of pennsylvania. in our next segment, we will be joined by a survivor of another massacre, virginia tech, were 32 students and teachers were gunned down. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez.

juan: as we continue our coverage of the church massacre in charleston, south carolina thursday, president obama expressed anger over what he described as a senseless shooting in a black church in south carolina. >> i've had to make statements like this too many times. communities like this had to endure tragedies like this too many times. we don't have all the facts, but we do know that, once again innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. now's the time for morning and for healing, but let's be clear. at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

it doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency. and it is in our power to do something about it. i say that recognizing the politics in this town foreclose a lot of those avenues right now. but it would be wrong for us not to acknowledge it. and as some point, it is when to be important to the american people to come to grips with it. one cup clearly frustrated president obama speaking thursday afternoon. meanwhile, the charleston post and courier has apologized to readers for running a gun range add on the cover of thursday's edition. the paper ran a banner headline that read "church attack kills

nine" but a sticker at was placed on top of the headline saying, "ladies' night" at the atp gun shop & range in summerville, south carolina. the ad says -- "30 dollars gets you everything!" including eye and ear protection, a pistol or revolver, and 50 rounds of ammo for use on the shooting range. amy: joining us in washington is colin goddard survivor of the , 2007 virginia tech massacre and a senior policy advocate at everytown for gun safety. still with us in atlanta is the reverend dr. raphael warnock from atlanta georgia spiritual home of dr. martin luther king junior. yesterday, major ceremony last night as muslims, juice christians came together to remember those who died in charleston. your response? we have had you on massacre after massacre. in fact, president obama come it is said, since he came into office has gotten up at the

podium 14 times to talk about mass killings in this country. >> and the president is absolutely right. it is beyond time with a sears conversation and take action. i've heard people say, no stoppage time. the fact today is an average american day, 88 more of us will street -- shoot some of euros per shoot ourselves and our from gun violence. with that their he there will never be a time. it is too late to have this conversation. the fortunate thing is, more americans actually are having this conversation at the local level and are taking action. we are seeing more action in states to do a better job of keeping guns away from dangerous people, even a state of south carolina this year passed a law that keeps guns away from convicted domestic abusers. we see states like washington state, background checks on all gun sales and oregon and acted the same mall. at the same time we see states

reject the nra's agenda of allowing more guns, enforcing were universities to allow guns in classrooms and places like nevada and wyoming and moving all training requirements to carry loaded gun in the first place in places like montero -- montana. we are now seeing firsthand action on this and it will take a while to get to the national level to change the dialogue because too many people in washington, d.c. have the old way of thinking that if you talk about changes to gun policy, it is not one to winnie the next election. it is the dynamic that is not a light switch to flip him up as something that will take grassroots support and we are to see the next wave of movement for something to actually be done on this issue. juan: colin goddard, this incredible, almost bizarre irony that the newspaper article that is talking about what happened in south carolina on its front page has done ads. -- gun ads. >> and it shows the state of

affairs in this country. but like i said, i find solace in the fact that now there are more than 2.5 million americans part of the organization i am part of, that are demanding action from legislative officials. the nra is something like 5 million and they have been around for 100 years and we have 2.5 million and a very short time. americans are realizing there are steps we haven't taken yet that we can take and realizing their involvement in this process, them telling their elected officials this is something i care about, not just this week after something has happened and grabbed our attention, but in next month and the following month and that sustained activity on this issue -- we will see us achieve the day where we actually make improvements and do a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of people who inflict such carnage. amy: colin, you were shot four times? >> yes. amy: do you still have bullets

in you? >> yes. amy: how do you respond to people like sean hannity, a number of republican politicians who when asked in the wake of the killing, what about what president obama raised, and they attack obama for using this as a political opportunity instead of just mourning the dead? >> i don't think it makes any sense. like i said, it is beyond time. we should have had a conversation about how we can improve gun policy two days before this happened, yesterday. we have to have it today. we have to do it -- is nothing to undo what happened in charleston, but we can act prevent the next shooting from happening to more of our can citizens. frankly, they're trying to divert the conversation, trying to have a conversation about anything else except for the easy accessibility to guns we allow the gun industry in

america to set the rules on. it is something like i said that we are now seeing more americans realize the problem, realizing how they can fix it and be part of the solution. in places like south carolina itself, taking the steps were nra a-rated members of the legislation voting to keep guns away from domestic abusers dynamic we did not feel it's issue for a long time. juan: we have about one minute left. i want to bring in dr. warnock back to talk about in a minute that we have, the moral challenge to our country on this issue of gun violence. >> and gun control. >> well, this is a moral issue. dr. king said it best, perhaps. he said that if we live by the principal of an eye for an eye, that leaves everybody blind. i think we cannot allow a few extremist to use a kind of demagoguery that confuses this

issue. after sandy hook, i think the data showed about 90% of americans believe it or not supported some level of reasonable gun reform, and still it did not happen. it is because the other issue that is driving this issue is the vast an inordinate influence of money and politics. too often we have the best politicians that money can buy and that to me is a moral issue. somehow, moral voices, people of goodwill have to stand up and speak truth to power. it is our democracy that we have to reclaim in a moment like this. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us, especially on this day juneteenth, june 19 in 1855, was the day african-americans in texas learned two years after the emancipation proclamation that the slaves had been freed.

that does it for our broadcast. dr. warnock and colin goddard thank you for joining us. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> funding for christina cooks is provided by astavita, manufacturers of skin defense complex, designed to help protect skin from free radicals with astareal astaxanthin and tocotrienol. astavita skin defense complex: more than skin deep. additional funding provided by kuhn rikon manufacturers of the swiss-made duromatic pressure cooker. employing energy efficiency in the kitchen to help take the pressure off of cooking and cooks in creating naturally prepared meals. and by ecover,

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