The Unforgivable Forgiven

A race war he thought he would start.

Instead, the world saw those whose loved ones he had killed forgive him and pray for his soul.

Charleston sits, shafted by a flagpole flying the Confederate battle flag at full mast while all state and federal flags are at half-mast.

After emptying his gun into his victims who had gathered for a prayer meeting, the killer then held the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger again. At some level, he knew it was empty, so his act was symbolic.

He will continue to live, but his life has been killed.

He is named strangely, with an androgynous first name, "Dylann" a middle name "Storm", and the last name "Roof".  There may be a story or two behind all that. He may have been raised in strange ways.

Even now, it appears the killer was a good friend of an African-American peer, went haywire when his girl rejected him for a person of color, possibly the peer, and channeled his rage into racism.

Had he had counseling as he went through these changes, he might have had a better sense of his choices. That small absence in his life killed nine people.