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Endorse This: Happy Birthday, Al Green!

Endorse This: Happy Birthday, Al Green!

Today is soul singer Al Green’s 70th birthday.

And what better way to appreciate him than by having one of his own fans perform a (slight) homage?

President Obama did just that in 2012, on an apparent dare, after Green performed at a fundraising event that Obama attended. To raucous applause, the president sang a line from one of Green’s most well-known songs, “I’m Still in Love With You,” from 1972.

“Don’t worry, Rev., I cannot sing like you, but I just wanted to show my appreciation,” he said.

Obama has sung in front of crowds before – his rendition of “Amazing Grace,” in June last year after the Emanuel AME church shooting in Charleston became a symbol for the resilience of the victims in the wake of a horrific attack.

President Obama isn’t afraid to sing when he’s moved. Screengrab from the Associated Press/YouTube

‘Temporary’ Not Guilty Plea Entered For Charleston Suspect

‘Temporary’ Not Guilty Plea Entered For Charleston Suspect

By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – A federal magistrate on Friday entered a “temporary” not guilty plea for Dylann Roof on hate crime charges in the slaying of nine African-Americans at a South Carolina church, even as his lawyer said his client wanted to plead guilty.

The lead defense attorney, David Bruck, said he could not advise Roof, 21, to declare his guilt in the massacre until after prosecutors said whether they would seek capital punishment.

“Roof has told us he wishes to plead guilty,” Bruck told the court. “Until we know whether the government will seek the death penalty, we cannot advise Mr. Roof.”

The “not guilty” plea entered into the court record by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bristow Marchant on Roof’s behalf can be changed later. Final motions are due on August 20.

“We believe he understands the tremendous crime that he committed and the heinousness of it,” Eduardo Curry, an attorney representing the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of last month’s massacre, said outside the courtroom.

More than two dozen survivors and relatives of the victims of last month’s killings attended the hearing, where Roof was arraigned on 33 federal hate crime and firearms charges.

The counts add to the raft of state murder and attempted murder counts he already faces. Roof has not yet entered a plea on the state charges.

Some of the relatives and survivors came to the front of the courtroom to make statements, many of them in tears.

“For the rest of his life I want him to hear my thoughts,” said Tyrone Sanders, referring to the defendant.

“I am hurting inside for what he is accused of doing,” said Sanders, father of victim Tywanza Sanders, 26, and husband of Felicia Sanders, who survived. “I want him to think about what I’m thinking and continue to think about it.”

At an earlier appearance in state court, family members riveted the country by expressing heartfelt forgiveness to Roof, saying their Christian faith compelled them to rise above their grief.

Their statements, coming just two days after the slayings, helped spark intense soul-searching in the United States over race relations and led to the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina capitol grounds.

Neither federal nor state prosecutors have decided whether they will seek the death penalty if Roof is convicted.

The federal charges are based on evidence that the suspect targeted the victims “because of their race and in order to interfere with their exercise of religion,” U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said last week in announcing the indictment.

Roof planned the murders for months with the “goal of increasing racial tensions throughout the nation and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs he believed African-Americans had committed against white people,” Lynch said.

He singled out the nearly 200-year-old church known as “Mother Emanuel” because of its historical significance in the African-American community, Lynch said.

Roof signaled his criminal intent in a racist manuscript posted on his website, she said.

(Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Photo: Dylann Storm Roof appears by closed-circuit television at his bond hearing in Charleston, South Carolina, June 19, 2015 in a still image from video. REUTERS/POOL

Alleged Charleston Shooter Faces Federal Hate Crime Charges: Lynch

Alleged Charleston Shooter Faces Federal Hate Crime Charges: Lynch

(Reuters) – Alleged Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof faces federal hate crimes and firearms charges that could lead to the death penalty or life in prison, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Wednesday.

A federal grand jury in South Carolina returned a 33-count indictment against Roof, accused of killing nine people attending Bible study at a historically black church last month, Lynch said.

The federal government has not decided if it will seek the death penalty if Roof is convicted, according to Lynch.

South Carolina does not have a hate crimes statute, and so the hate crime charges that Roof targeted the victims “because of their race and in order to interfere with their exercise of religion,” are part of the federal indictment, Lynch said.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Emily Stephenson; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Dylann Roof (R), the 21-year-old man charged with murdering nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston last month, listens to the proceedings with assistant defense attorney William Maguire during a hearing at the Judicial Center in Charleston, South Carolina July 16, 2015. (REUTERS/Randall Hill)

Dylann Roof To Face Trial In 1 Year; Gag Order Extended

Dylann Roof To Face Trial In 1 Year; Gag Order Extended

By John Monk, The State (TNS)

CHARLESTON, S.C. — State Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson set a tentative court date of July 11, 2016, for Dylann Roof, who was charged with nine counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder after he allegedly opened fire on parishioners attending a Bible study at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

During a 24-minute hearing, Roof’s defense attorney Ashley Pennington told the judge that there were no issues at this time regarding Roof’s mental competence to stand trial. Roof, who appeared in court, sat quietly while the hearing took place.

Scarlett Wilson, the 9th Circuit solicitor, told the judge that although this is a potential death penalty case, no decision has been reached by the solicitor to seek the death penalty against Roof.

With respect to a temporary gag order that Nicholson issued last week, he said he is giving all interested parties until next Wednesday at 5 p.m. to file their concerns about releasing any pretrial information to the media.

In a sweeping gag order last week, the judge prohibited the release of information pertaining to the case to news media. The order also prohibits all people involved in the case, including potential witnesses, from speaking to news media.

However, Nicholson said Thursday that his order is only temporary, and he has no interest in making it permanent unless good causes can be shown by anyone of three interested parties, which includes law enforcement, including federal agencies, the victims’ families and the defense council for Roof.

Roof, an alleged white supremacist who wanted to start a race war, is accused of shooting the nine African-Americans as they attended a prayer meeting at the church. One of the victims was state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, a respected and well-liked member of the South Carolina Legislature. Pinckney was also pastor of the church.

Thursday’s hearing was the second court appearance by Roof.

His first hearing — a bond appearance on June 19, two days after the shootings — made national news because relatives of the victims spoke publicly, telling Roof their Christian faith caused them to forgive him.

Those public and unexpected acts of forgiveness were the catalyst for Republican Gov. Nikki Haley to call for the removal of the Confederate flag from its position of honor by the State House. The flag has long been used by white supremacists and segregationists to send a message to blacks that they are second-class citizens.

After the Charleston killings and the discovery that the Confederate flag provided inspiration for the Mother Emanuel church killings, white heritage groups lost their power over most members of the General Assembly, who voted to take the flag down. It was removed July 10 in an event attended by a cheering crowd of thousands.

Roof, 21, grew up in Columbia and attended public schools in Lexington and Richland counties and apparently didn’t get beyond ninth grade. Law officers are exploring how he came by his extreme white supremacist views.

Sources have told The State that law enforcement investigations into Roof have expanded and that others may now be targets.

Photo: Dylann Roof (R), the 21-year-old man charged with murdering nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston last month, is helped to his chair by chief public defender Ashley Pennington during a hearing at the Judicial Center in Charleston, South Carolina July 16, 2015. (REUTERS/Randall Hill)