Jon Stewart: let's call Charleston massacre what it was - an act of terrorism

American talk show host Jon Stewart drops jokes to deliver searing critique of America's muted response to the Charleston shooting, and called for it to be termed a terrorist attack


"The Confederate flag flies over South Carolina," said Jon Stewart at the start of the introduction of his chat show Photo: Comedy Central

Jon Stewart, the host of The Daily Show, used his nightly television appearance to deliver a scathing assessment of American society, following the murder of nine people in Charleston.

In an introduction to his chat show which lasted over five minutes, an unusually stony-faced Stewart provided a sombre reflection on the bloodshed at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, in which a white man, Dylann Roof, opened fire on a Bible study session.


Police lead Dylann Roof into the courthouse in Shelby, North Carolina (Reuters)

"I didn’t do my job today," he said. "I apologise. I’ve got nothing for you in terms of jokes and sounds, because of what happened in South Carolina."

He said that he despaired because the shooting was "such a common occurrence," and criticised America for failing to address the root causes.

"I honestly have nothing other than sadness that once again we have to peer into the abyss of the depraved violence that we do to each other, and the nexus of a just gaping racial wound that will not heal, yet we pretend doesn't exist," he said.

"I’m confident though that by acknowledging it – by staring into that – and seeing it for what it is, we still won’t do jack ----.

"That's us. And that’s the part that blows my mind. I don't want to get into the political argument about guns and stuff.

"What blows my mind is the disparity of response. When we think people that are foreign are going to kill us, and us killing ourselves. If we thought this was Islamic terrorism it would fit into it.


Marie Goff wipes tears from her eyes during a prayer vigil held at Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston (Reuters)

"We invade two countries and spent trillions of dollars and lost thousands of American lives and now fly unmanned death machines over like five or six different counties, all to keep Americans safe. We’ve got to do whatever we can – we’ll torture people. We’ve got to do whatever we can to keep Americans safe.

"But nine people shot in a church – ‘Hey, what are you going go to do? Crazy is as crazy is, right?’ That’s the part that I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my head around. And you know it’s going to go down the same path.”

And he lambasted what he portrayed as the usual meek response to mass shootings.

"They are already using the nuanced language of lack of effort," he said. "This is a terrorist attack. This is a violent attack on a church, that is a symbol for that community.

"This wasn't a tornado. This was racist. This one – I hate to use a pun – but this is black and white. There is no nuance here. I cannot believe how hard people are working to discount it."

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He also said that the history of South Carolina was key to understanding the attack.

"In South Carolina, roads are named after the people who fought to keep black people off the roads.


Confederate graves in Charleston, South Carolina (Alamy)

"The confederate flag flies over South Carolina. And the roads are named for confederate generals. And the white guy is the one who feels like his country is being taken away from him.

"We're bringing it on ourselves. And that’s the thing - al Qaeda, ISIS, they’re not - compared to the damage we can apparently do to ourselves on a regular basis."


A man kneels across the street from where police gather outside the Emanuel AME Church (AP)
A man enters the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church where a bible group was meeting. He sits down before opening fire killing 9 people. He flees the scene.
Thursday, June 18
6.45am (BST)
Police release a description of the suspect
7.09am (BST)
Local police chief Gregory Mullen stages a press conference declaring that 8 people died at the scene whilst a 9th died after being taken to hospital
7.10am (BST)

Reverend Clementa Pinckney is among the dead (Facebook)

Reverend Al Sharpton tweets that the church's pastor, and member of the state Senate, Reverend Clementa Pinckney is among the dead
7.11am (BST)

Jed Bush cancels a rally scheduled to take place in Charleston.
7.42am (BST)
Charleston's Mayor issues the following statement: "The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate. It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. This is one hateful person. This is the most unspeakable and heart-breaking tragedy. People [were] in prayer on a Wednesday evening. A ritual coming together, praying and worshipping God. To have an awful person come in and shoot them is, is inexplicable."

8.12am (BST)
Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina, says in a statement: "Michael, Rena, Nalin and I are praying for the victims and families touched by tonight's senseless tragedy at Emanuel AME Church. While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another. Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers."

09.07am (BST)
A bomb threat is reported near the sight of the church - reporters are told to leave and the area is evacuated.

11.05am (BST)

A 'Need to Identify' poster issued by the Charleston Police Department
A photo of the suspect is released by the local police department.

11.21am (BST)

Charleston police chief Greg Mullen holds a press conference urging the public not to approach the suspect.
12.10pm (BST)

Mayor of Charleston Joesph Riley issues a statement about the horrific events.
3.04pm (BST)

More information emerges about the shooting. Sylvia Johnson says: "From my understanding the suspect came to the church and he asked for the pastor. They showed him where the pastor was. He sat next to my cousin, Rev Clementa Pinckney, throughout the entire bible study. At the conclusion of the bible study, from what I understand, they just start hearing a loud noise, it's just ringing out, and the suspect had already wounded a couple of individuals including my cousin Rev Clementa Pinckney. [One of the survivors] said he [the suspect] had reloaded five different times, and her son was trying to talk him out of doing the act of killing people. And he just said 'I have to do it... you rape our women and you're taking over our country, and you have to go'."
3.07pm (BST)

The FBI name the suspect as 21-year-old Dylaan Roof.
3.20pm (BST)

Charleston shooting suspect Dylaan Roof, 21 (EPA)

A picture emerges of Roof wearing a jacket adorned with the flags of White ruled Rhodesia and apartheid-era South Africa.
4.40pm (BST)

Amid reports from CNN and CBS, the US Attorney General Lorretta Lynch confirms that a suspect has been detained in connection with the shooting.
4.42pm (BST)

Chief Mullen confirms the news: "I am very pleased to say... we have arrested Dylan RoofHe was arrested in Shelby, NC at a traffic stop. We have detectives preparing to fly to Shelby to interview and prepare for evidence recovery."
5.35pm (BST)

President Obama speaks of his anger and pain over the shootings.

The Telegraph