‘May God have mercy on you’

Roof appears on nine murder charges as victims’ relatives speak of forgiveness

CHARLESTON, S.C. — They forgave him. They advised him to repent for his sins, and asked for God’s mercy on his soul. One even told Dylann Storm Roof to repent and confess, and “you’ll be OK.”

Relatives of the nine black community leaders shot down during a Bible study session confronted the shooting suspect Friday during his initial court hearing, and spoke of love.

“I forgive you, my family forgives you,” said Anthony Thompson. “We would like you to take this opportunity to repent. … Do that and you’ll be better off than you are right now.”

Roof, who faces nine counts of murder, was ordered held on $1 million bond. He appeared by video from the county jail, looking sombre in a striped jumpsuit and speaking only briefly in response to the judge’s questions.

Felecia Sanders survived the Wednesday night attack by pretending to be dead, but lost her son, Tywanza. She also spoke from the judge’s courtroom.

“We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with open arms. You have killed some of the most beautifulest people that I know. Every fibre in my body hurts … and I’ll never be the same,” Sanders told Roof.

“Tywanza was my hero,” Sanders said, but even she showed some kindness as she confronted the man accused of killing her son. “As we said in Bible study, we enjoyed you but may God have mercy on you.”

Roof looked sad and bowed his head slightly, but showed no other emotion as the relatives spoke.

Their remarkable comments seemed in keeping with a spirit evident on the streets of Charleston Friday, where people built a memorial and took part in a vigil to repudiate whatever a gunman would hope to accomplish by attacking the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the nation’s most important African-American sanctuaries.