Charleston Church to Commemorate Victims with New Memorial
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, located in Charleston, South Carolina, is moving forward with plans to establish a memorial in honor of its members who tragically lost their lives during a Bible study session in 2015, at the hands of a self-proclaimed white supremacist.
The Emanuel Nine Memorial Foundation initiated the project in 2023 and has successfully garnered approximately $19.9 million in funding. According to WCIV, an ABC News affiliate in Charleston, the project’s first phase, known as the Memorial Courtyard, is anticipated to be completed by early next year.
Featuring two substantial benches and a fountain with the names of the 2015 shooting victims carved into its edge, the courtyard will serve as a peaceful homage. Architect Michael Arad explains that the subsequent phase, the Survivors’ Garden, will pay tribute to the incident’s survivors with five oak trees and dedicated benches, alongside a sixth bench honoring the church itself.
“At the end of the day, what we wanted to do is create a congregational space. A place that brings people together, a place that responds with beauty to hate, a place that responds with love,” Arad shared with WCIV. He also expressed hope that visitors would leave the space inspired to make a positive impact in the world.
The tragic event occurred on June 17, 2015, when 21-year-old Dylann Roof attacked the Emanuel AME congregation, killing nine individuals and injuring another. Roof’s motive was reportedly to incite a race war. In December 2016, a jury convicted Roof on 33 counts, including federal hate crimes leading to death, obstruction of religion, and firearms violations.
Roof was sentenced to death in January 2017, marking him as the first individual in U.S. history to receive a death sentence for federal hate crimes. This sentence was upheld in August 2021 by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which acknowledged the unparalleled horror of Roof’s actions.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the church received numerous donations, with a significant portion allocated to the victims’ families. An investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division into allegations of financial mismanagement concluded in November 2019, with spokesman Tommy Crosby reporting that there was “no evidence” of misconduct by church leaders.
This article was originally written by www.christianpost.com
