One of the victims of the Charleston shooting managed to capture a cell phone video showing what would prove to be the final moments before Dylann Roof opened fire at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday night. Seen in hindsight, it can only be described as chilling.
Tywanza “Wanza” Sanders recorded this cell phone video and uploaded it to Snapchat just minutes before being cut down by Roof. Mashable obtained a copy of the video, and four of Sanders’ friends confirmed that Sanders indeed created it. Watch it here.
Roof was identified by Sanders’ friends as the sandy-haired white man sitting at the far end of the table during the Bible study. Several of Sanders’ friends watched the cell phone video on Snapchat, and were stunned to see Roof was sitting there. As we know now, just minutes after the snap went live, Roof started shooting. Sanders jumped in front of his aunt, Susie Jackson, to shield her from the onslaught–making him by far the youngest victim of Wednesday night’s butchery. Sanders was 26 years old; the next-youngest victim was the church’s pastor, 41-year-old state senator Clementa Pinckney. Jackson was killed in the shooting as well.
According to Sanders’ friends, this was very much in character for him. He graduated from Allen University, a historically black school in Columbia, with a degree in business administration just last year, and had ambitions of opening a barber shop in his hometown once he finished graduate school. One friend described him as “a walking angel.” Another friend, Torrance Shaw, described him as a “one-of-a-kind person” who “would always find a way to brighten your day.”
To my mind, this cell phone video comprehensively debunks the wingnut myth that Roof’s attack was motivated by anti-Christian hatred, not racism. Police say Roof openly admitted to wanting to start a race war when he admitted his role in the slaughter. According to police, Roof also said that he drove down from his home in Lexington, a suburb of Columbia, with every intention of shooting up the place. However, he almost didn’t go through with the plan because everyone was so nice to him. Maybe it’s just me, but if this guy were an anti-Christian thug rather than a racist thug, their loving up on him would have made him even angrier, and he’d have started shooting right away. But then again, such little things as facts never got in the way of a tea-infused conspiracy theory.
