--- description: The site linked to Dylann Roof is home to a lengthy, racist screed. title: FBI Investigating Hate Site Linked to Accused Charleston Shooter image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c5bada83050bf54/698855823c16399d914587a0/church-charleston.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # FBI Investigating Hate Site Linked to Accused Charleston Shooter ## Video: Families Remember The Charleston Victims [Watch (HLS stream): Families Remember The Charleston Victims](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jEIGaOIa.m3u8) (1:26)  _Published 2015-06-19. Families Remember The Charleston Victims_  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:21 AM CUTPublished: Jun 20, 2015 4:59 PM CUT  The Emanuel AME Church early June 21, 2015 in Charleston, S.C. The Emanuel AME Church early June 21, 2015 in Charleston, S.C.Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:21 AM CUTPublished: Jun 20, 2015 4:59 PM CUT The FBI is investigating a website that emerged Saturday and was registered under the name of Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white man accused of killing nine people at a Bible study group last Wednesday evening at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof was arrested Thursday in North Carolina and later transported back to South Carolina. On Friday, just before Roof was [charged](http://time.com/3928072/charleston-death-penalty/ "undefined") with nine counts of murder and one count of weapon possession, Governor Nikki Haley told the _TODAY_ show the act was a “hate crime” deserving of the death penalty. Among the victims was the church’s pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who also served as a state senator. The website includes a racist manifesto and what appear to be pictures of Roof. The website’s URL, “[LastRhodesian.com](http://lastrhodesian.com/ "undefined"),” refers to the majority-black, white-run nation that existed in what is now Zimbabwe. Roof wore the Rhodesian flag on his coat in a photo released by authorities after the shooting. The site includes a [lengthy, racist screed](http://lastrhodesian.com/data/documents/rtf88.txt "undefined") that begins, “I was not raised in a racist home or environment” before detailing his disdain for and hatred of black people, Hispanics and Jews. The [Associated Press](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dc6ebe8eab144cb9b569aeb85115f9b1/church-victims-family-face-alleged-attacker-court "undefined"), citing anonymous law enforcement sources, reported Saturday that the FBI was reviewing the website, which the New York _Times_ [reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/us/dylann-storm-roof-photos-website-charleston-church-shooting.html?smid=tw-bna&%5Fr=1 "undefined") online records show was registered under Roof’s name in February. The manifesto’s writer mentions the case of Trayvon Martin—the black teen who was shot dead by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, in 2012—as “the event that truly awakened me.” The case led the the manifesto’s writer to start researching black-on-white crime, which the writer said was being ignored by the media. In the final section, the writer states: “I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country. \[…\] someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.” As authorities continued to investigate the matter on Sunday, a number of events throughout Charleston will aim to push a message of healing. Emanuel AME Church held its first worship service since the massacre, with people lined up outside well before the 9:30 a.m. ET service, AP [reports](http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2015/06/21/shootings-emotional-burden-looms-over-sunday-sermons "undefined"). The sanctuary later filled with parishioners, many of them expected to be newcomers.. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3929352/dylann-roof-website-manifesto/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3929352/dylann-roof-website-manifesto/"},"headline":"FBI Investigating Hate Site Linked to Accused Charleston Shooter","datePublished":"2015-06-20T16:59:35.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T06:21:03.000Z","description":"Dylann Roof is accused of killing nine people at a historic black church in Charleston","url":"https://time.com/3929352/dylann-roof-website-manifesto/","keywords":["Crime","U.S.","Charleston shooting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c5bada83050bf54/698855823c16399d914587a0/church-charleston.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c5bada83050bf54/698855823c16399d914587a0/church-charleston.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"charleston church shooting south carolina","caption":"charleston church shooting south carolina","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3929352/dylann-roof-website-manifesto/","name":"FBI Investigating Hate Site Linked to Accused Charleston Shooter"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Families Remember The Charleston Victims","description":"Families Remember The Charleston Victims","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jEIGaOIa/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-19T21:11:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jEIGaOIa.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3929352/dylann-roof-website-manifesto/","duration":"PT1M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3929352/dylann-roof-website-manifesto/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```