South Carolina Senator and GOP presidential candidate Lindsey Graham said that the perpetrator of a shooting at a church Charleston was “a quiet, strange kid. Seems like one of these Newtown-type guys” on Thursday’s broadcast of ABC’s “The View.”
Graham, whose niece went to school with the shooter, Dylann Storm Roof, described him as a “strange, disturbed, young man,” “whacked out,” and “sick and twisted.” Graham also said that his niece said “in school, he [Roof] was just a quiet, strange kid. Seems like one of these Newtown-type guys.”
Graham stated that while “I can’t explain this. I don’t know what would make a young man at 21 get so sick and twisted to kill nine people in a church. This is beyond my understanding,” he believes the shooting is “probably” both a hate crime and the actions of a mentally disturbed individual and “one probably precludes the other.” He continued, “There are real people out there who are organized to kill people in religion and based on race. This guy’s just whacked out. But, it’s 2015, there are people out there looking for Christians to kill them.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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