DOJ Reaches Settlement With Families of Charleston Mass Shooting
The Department of Justice reached a settlement with families of the nine victims who were killed in a mass shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. According to The Associated Press , the settlement…
The Department of Justice reached a settlement with families of the nine victims who were killed in a mass shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
According to The Associated Press, the settlement was reached over a failed background check allowing the gunman to buy the firearm used in the shooting.
Bakari Sellers, an attorney who is involved with the agreement, told the outlet the settlement amounts to $88 million. Families of the victims will receive $63 million and survivors will be given $25 million.
“We’ve given a big ‘F you’ to white supremacy and racism,” Sellers told the outlet. “We’re doing that by building generational wealth in these Black communities, from one of the most horrific race crimes in the country.”
The Department of Justicecalled the gunman, Dylann Roof, “a self-proclaimed white supremacist, who wanted to start a ‘race war’ and specifically targeted the 200-year-old historically African-American congregation.”
According to the department, for those who were killed in the shooting, “the settlements range from $6 million to $7.5 million per claimant.”
The statement continues, “For the survivors, the settlements are for $5 million per claimant.”