Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), who has been toying with a presidential run, said on Friday that the suspect in the deadly shooting at a Charleston church was motivated by racism.
The governor spoke at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, D.C.
Was the Charleston shooting racially motivated?
Kasich: “You read what they said about the guy. It sure appears that way.”
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 19, 2015
Authorities on Thursday arrested 21-year-old Dylann Roof, the suspect in the Wednesday shooting at a historic black church that left nine dead.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) seemed less sure on Friday when asked if the suspect was racially motivated to carry out the attack.
“It was a horrific act and I don’t know what the background of it is, but it was an act of hatred,” he said when asked by the Huffington Post whether the shooting was racially motivated.
“I don’t know. Looks like to me it was, but we’ll find out all the information. It’s clear it was an act of raw hatred, for sure. Nine people lost their lives, and they were African-American. You can judge what it is,” he said when asked again.
Kasich is the latest potential presidential candidate to weigh in on the deadly shooting in Charleston, after many candidates addressed the attack on Twitter and at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference.
