Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the Justice Department has opened a hate crime investigation to look into the shooting last night at a South Carolina church:
“The Department of Justice has opened a hate crime investigation into the shooting incident,” Lynch this morning in Washington. “The FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshall Service, civil rights division, and the U.S. attorney’s office are working closely with state and local partners and we stand ready to offer every resource, every means, and every tool that we poses in order to locate and to apprehend the perpetrator of this barbaric crime. Acts like this one have no place in our country, and no place in a civilized society.
“And I want to be clear: The individual who committed these acts will be found and will face justice. As we move forward in the matter, my thoughts and prayers and those of our entire law enforcement communit, here at the Department of Justice and around the country, are with the families and loved ones of the victims in Charleston. Even as we struggle to understand the heartbreaking event I want everyone in Charleston and everyone affected by the tragedy to know we will do everything we can to help heal the community and make it whole again.”
