A week after nine of its members were fatally shot, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is once again holding Bible study in the room where the deaths happened.
More than 100 church members and visitors packed into Emanuel's basement Wednesday evening, seven days after police said Dylann Roof killed the church's pastor and eight other members during the weekly gathering.Â
A table adorned with flowers and a poster covered with expressions of sympathy sat at the head of the room, in front of a raised lectern to be used by the church's pastor. Armed Charleston police patrolled inside and outside the church, while a string trio played religious hymns in the background.
Interim pastor Norvel Goff was to teach the multiracial crowd about "The Power of Love." Funerals for the slain members were to begin Thursday, with President Barack Obama speaking at slain pastor Clementa Pinckney's funeral on Friday.
Meanwhile, a federal law enforcement official says Justice Department officials are in agreement that last week's massacre at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, satisfies the definition of a hate crime. That means that federal charges against suspect Dylann Storm Roof are likely.Â
The official spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the investigation is continuing. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said federal authorities are investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime.Â
On Wednesday, Lynch remarked that hate crimes are "the original domestic terrorism." Â (AP)
