This is what the black community and in particular the families of the victims of Wednesday's terrorist attack face as Dylann Roof is jailed and goes to trial:
You only have to get seconds into the clip when Magistrate James B. Gosnell Jr. decides to begin the proceedings by prefacing it with his own statement about who the victims are in Charleston. Shorter Gosnell: victims' families yadda yadda yadda BUT WHAT ABOUT DYLANN ROOF'S FAMILY AND THEIR FEELINGS?
There has been Twitter pushback on this bald-faced attempt to deflate the seriousness of this attack as described in this article on the CNN site.
The family members present at the bond hearing are to be commended for their patience and sense of mercy in the face of a murderer. They could at least have been granted the courtesy by the Magistrate of holding his damn tongue and giving them their moment instead of deflecting attention to Roof's family.
And about that "mercy" that should be shown to his family: frankly, I'm not so forgiving. Instead of vague statements of shock about what Dylann did, I'd like to see the Roof family disavow the racist sentiment that was at the heart of the attack. I'd like to see at least a tinge of regret in allowing him to purchase and possess a firearm, when he was clearly on a destructive path.
I don't think it's necessary in this diary to have a complex discussion about the various cultural and psychological factors that led Dylann Roof to attack the prayer group at Emanuel AME. What we need now is to have a clear path to justice unencumbered by the equivocation of right wing politicians, political pundits and especially those in the judicial system itself.