Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) issued a statement Thursday in which he said the mass shooting that occurred at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. had left everyone “heartbroken.”
Graham’s tweet came after a white shooter, eventually identified as Dylann Roof, allegedly shot nine black people Wednesday night at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Graham’s tweet, in which he lamented the violent attack, is below:
Statement on the Charleston Shooting. #PrayersForCharleston pic.twitter.com/P6SoosdQ7A
— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) June 18, 2015
The Daily Caller reporter Alex Pappas tweeted Thursday that Graham would be canceling campaign events in order “to get back to his home state” of South Carolina.
Pappas’ tweet is below:
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, running for president, cancels campaign events “to get back to his home state.” pic.twitter.com/a2A1QquzSh
— Alex Pappas (@AlexPappas) June 18, 2015
Graham reportedly told CNN that his niece, Emily, had gone to school with Roof. According to Graham, Emily and the suspected gunman in the mass-casualty shooting in Charleston were in the same eighth-grade class.
Graham shared what his niece and his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, had told him about Roof.
“He was quiet, strange, very unsocial and everyone thought he was drugs,” Graham told CNN.
“I just think one of these whacked out kids,” Graham said when asked whether his niece recalled Roof making racial comments. “I don’t think it’s anything broader than that. … It’s about a young man who is obviously twisted. … No one at home [in South Carolina] believes this represents us. We don’t want to be judged by him.”
