Case Explained:This article breaks down the legal background, charges, and implications of Case Explained: Hate Crime Law in South Carolina – Legal Perspective
(WACH) — A decade after the Mother Emanuel massacre, a new WACH FOX special revisits the absence of a hate crime law in South Carolina, and asks viewers to weigh in.
South Carolina is one of just two states without a hate crime law, a gap that has shadowed its recent history.
Now, a new WACH FOX special, Folded, Not Forgotten: Hate Crime Law in SC, is asking viewers a direct question: Should the state finally pass one?
The need for such a law came into stark focus in 2015, when nine people were murdered at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston by a self-avowed white supremacist, Dylann Roof.
In the days after the killings, images of Roof posing with the Confederate flag spread across the country, igniting renewed debate over race, symbols and accountability in the state.
FILE – In this April 10, 2017, file photo, Dylann Roof enters the court room at the Charleston County Judicial Center to enter his guilty plea on murder charges in Charleston, S.C. Families of nine victims killed in a racist attack at a Black South Carolina church have reached a settlement with the Justice Department over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun he used in the 2015 massacre. (Grace Beahm/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool, File)
RELATED | South Carolina marks 10 years since Confederate flag removed from State House
Months later, the Confederate flag was removed from the State House grounds, folded and placed in a museum.
For many families and advocates, the gesture marked progress. For others, it felt like an ending without resolution — a symbol addressed, but deeper questions left unanswered.
That unresolved tension is at the heart of this WACH FOX investigation, which features interviews with Rabbi Erik Uriarte and Tyrone Sanders, whose son, cousin and aunt were killed at Mother Emanuel.
Sanders also narrowly escaped losing his wife and granddaughter that night. He speaks candidly about why he believes South Carolina still lacks a hate crime law and what that absence says about whose pain is prioritized.
Folded, Not Forgotten: Hate Crime Law in SC airs Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 10 p.m. on WACH FOX and on YouTube.