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Sister of Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof arrested at school on drug and weapons charges

She made a comment about 'black people' in a troubling social media about the national student walkout to protest gun violence

Mythili Sampathkumar
New York
Thursday 15 March 2018 11:46 EDT
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The younger sister of Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015, has been arrested on drug and weapons charges at her high school
The younger sister of Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015, has been arrested on drug and weapons charges at her high school (AP)

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The younger sister of Dylann Roof, who shot dead nine people in a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015, has been arrested after posting a troubling message on social media.

Morgan Roof, an 18-year-old student at AC Flora High School in Columbia, South Carolina, was arrested after posting a message on Snapchat saying she hoped students participating in the nationwide walkout to protest gun violence would “get shot”.

Ms Roof was arrested after school authorities called police after they saw the post and getting a tip about the weapon. She was booked on one count of marijuana possession and two counts of carrying a weapon on school grounds. No students had been harmed in the incident.

She had been carrying a knife and pepper spray, in violation of school policy, according to the local newspaper The State.

Ms Roof’s social media post read: "Your walking out of the allowed time of 17min, they are letting you do this, nothing is gonna change what tf you think it's gonna do? I hope it's a trap and y'all get shot we know it's fixing to be nothing but black people walkin out anyway”.

AC Flora was one of many schools in the area participating in the walkout, inspired by the survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting last month where 17 people were gunned down.

Her race-related comment was concerning given that her brother had told the FBI he had chosen the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church and his victims - all black - in the hopes of starting a race war.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said in a statement that “potential tragedy was avoided at AC Flora High School...We owe a debt of gratitude to all involved who acted so quickly and decisively”.

Roof had pleaded guilty to nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and is now on death row in the US state of Indiana.

Ms Roof is currently being held in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.

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