Dylann Storm Roof is another name in a long list of criminals the media describes as “lone assassins.” We are supposed to believe “lone assassins” are tormented individuals who sit in dark corners of their unclean bedrooms planning mass murders with no outside help or encouragement. I believe we are way past the need to call BS on media coverage of this insanity. If I hear one more talking head say; “The suspect was described as a quiet loner who did not have many friends. Neighbors and friends were shocked to learn the young man went on a violent killing spree with no apparent motivation.”
Does anyone believe that?
Based on the little we know the tired scenario of random violence does not fit the picture. Witnesses say Roof entered the building and asked specifically for Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney. Once the pastor was identified by members of the congregation, Roof sat next to him for close to an hour during a prayer meeting before opening fire. Pinckney was the first to die in the gun fire. When a murder suspect asks people to identify someone who he shortly thereafter shoots and kills it is not an act of random violence by a lone assassin, it is, in the language of the law, a premeditated murder. There is no grey area here. Witnesses describe a murder not a random act of violence.
This begs the question who was Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney? He was both the pastor of the historic Emanual AME Church in Charleston South Carolina and a popular state politician. His church was burnt down in the 1890’s because it was used by freed Africans to advocate an end to slavery prior to emancipation. Recently Rev. Pinckney challenged the official version of the murder by police of Walter Scott. He made his remarks on the floor of the South Carolina State Senate assembly room. In his role as pastor he organized demonstrations against what is clearly a tendency by police to kill unarmed black men.
The initial police report of the Walter Scott homicide was that Scott took a Taser gun from Officer Michal Thomas Slager who feared for his life and shot him. A video of the incident shows Slager shooting Scott n the back and then dropping the Tazer next to the body after he was fatally wounded. The Video was released by a group called Black Lives Matter. Here is a list of their demands:
We say no more.
· We demand an end to all forms of discrimination and the full recognition of our human rights.
· We demand an immediate end to police brutality and the murder of Black people and all oppressed people.
· We demand full, living wage employment for our people.
· We demand decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings and an end to gentrification.
· We demand an end to the school to prison pipeline & quality education for all.
· We demand freedom from mass incarceration and an end to the prison industrial complex.
· We demand a racial justice agenda from the White House that is inclusive of our shared fate as Black men, women, trans and gender-nonconforming people. Not My Brother’s Keeper, but Our Children’s Keeper.
· We demand access to affordable healthy food for our neighborhoods.
· We demand an aggressive attack against all laws, policies, and entities that disenfranchise any community from expressing themselves at the ballot.
· We demand a public education system that teaches the rich history of Black people and celebrates the contributions we have made to this country and the world.
· We demand the release of all U.S. political prisoners
· We demand an end to the military industrial complex that incentivizes private corporations to profit off of the death and destruction of Black and Brown communities across the globe.
Black lives matter was founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi following the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin. At least one of these women has been active in the Orisa community in Oakland, and the Bay Ifa Orisa community has actively supported some of their events.
The question is, did the video released by Black Lives Matter influence the remarks made by Rev. Pinckney on the floor of the South Carolina assembly and was his murder a message?
When Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown in Ferguson the local Grand Jury declined to prosecute. Darren Wilson resigned as a police officer. The local prosecutor helped raise two and half million dollars to assist Wilson in his retirement.
The question is what kind of message was sent to Police Officers when Darren Wilson was paid two and half dollars as a result of his fame from killing Michael Brown?
I spent thirty years of my life working as a private investigator defending suspects accused of murder. Based on all those years of dealing with this issue on a professional basis I am saying flat, out, the killing of Clementa Pinckney was not a random act of violence, it was a well-planned, consciously conceived pre-meditated murder.
Listen to the totally absurd comment of Attorney General Loretta Lynch. She said; “We will now be looking at all of the facts, all of the motivations that led this individual, if in fact he is the shooter. It is really premature to determine which is the best venure, either state of federal, to pursue this matter.”
Wrong.
Premeditated murder is a state offense. There is no Federal law against murder. If you make an effort to identify a victim, locate the victim and then kill that person you have committed first degree murder, PERIOD. There is no State in the United States that requires proof of motive as an element for the charge of first degree murder, none. As the chief law enforcement officer in the United States I would hope the Attorney General understands the laws against murder.
There is only one reason why the Federal Government would want to be involved. The reason is they have something to hide.
Remember Chandra Levy? Chandra was an intern working for Representative Gary Condit. Part of her responsibilities working for Condit was to schedule press conferences with the Bureau of Prisons. She was the person who issued press passes to reporters who asked to cover the execution of convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. On the day Chandra disappeared she told a journalist friend she was present at McVeigh’s execution. After he was given the lethal injection she saw him get up off the execution table and walk out of the prison escorted to a black van by men dressed in suits. Chandra was so fearful for her life; she booked a flight to France and was never seen again.
The lawyers who defended her convicted killer are asking for a retrial based on physical evidence that Chandra did not die at the place where prosecutors claimed their client committed the murder. In other words if the convicted killer was in the park where law enforcement claims she was killed he is innocent.
How is that relevant to the case against Mr. Storm Roof?
It certainly suggests that law enforcement might have an agenda, and it suggests the media will support that agenda regardless of the facts.
I believe the Ifa Orisa community has a moral obligation to challenge the deliberate distortions that surround this issue. We need to set aside the religious differences that make working together in ritual difficult and focus on our moral responsibilities as role models in our community.
May it be so.
Ire,
Awo Falokun
