WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Friday, Charleston Police Department charged Roof with 9 counts of murder and possession of a firearm. He reportedly shouted racist remarks about African-Americans before opening fire on churchgoers at the historic black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday night.
"We of course categorically condemn his act, but that doesn't mean his motives weren't entirely legitimate," Taylor was quoted as saying by ABC News.
The shooter reportedly relied on the CofCC’s distorted data on African-American rapists to partially validate his actions.
"Even as we're speaking right now, a white woman is probably being raped by a black man. If we're going to have any kind of honest discussion of race in this country, you're going to have to talk about black-on-white violence."
US President Barack Obama said during an interview on Monday that racism is still a major issue in the United States despite hundreds of years of racial struggle and inequality amongst African-Americans.
Roof’s first court appearance has been set for October 23 to be followed by another court appearance on February 5.
On Friday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called for Roof to receive the death penalty.
