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Southern Poverty Law Center: Charleston Shooting Is 'An Obvious Hate Crime'

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A memorial near the Emanuel AME Church is viewed on June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina, after a mass shooting at the church on the evening of June 17, 2015. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
A memorial near the Emanuel AME Church is viewed on June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina, after a mass shooting at the church on the evening of June 17, 2015. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Police say they've captured a man they suspect opened fire and killed nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last night. Authorities released stills from a security video they say shows 21-year-old Dylann Roof entering the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church about an hour before the shooting.

Earlier today, the Department of Justice said it's investigating the shooting as a hate crime. For more on this, Here & Now's Robin Young goes to Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy group that researches hate crimes and domestic extremism.

Guest

  • Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy group that researches hate crimes and domestic extremism.

This segment aired on June 18, 2015.

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