Anthony Thompson sat quietly in a Charleston, South Carolina, courtroom, grieving the death of his wife, Myra, and waiting for her killer’s televised courtroom bond hearing to begin. Forty-eight hours earlier, Dylann Roof had walked into Charleston’s Mother Emanuel AME Church, where members had welcomed him to their small Wednesday evening Bible study, which Myra was teaching. As she prayed the closing Lord’s Prayer, Roof pulled a Glock .45 from his backpack, and shot and killed Myra and eight other African American church members.
After FBI agents arrested the young white supremacist, Roof confessed to the killings, saying, “I would like to make it crystal clear. I do not regret what I did. I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed.”
Anthony watched via a video link from the Charleston detention center as Roof stood still, head bowed and eyes lowered. His pale face showed no expression as Judge James Gosnell charged him with nine counts of murder. Roof admitted he killed the church members due to the color of their skin. He wanted to start a race war and purposely targeted the racially divided, historic city of Charleston.
Gosnell invited the victims’ family members to address the court, and when he called for a member of the Thompson family to speak, Anthony froze, his muscles tense. He didn’t want to speak and had no idea what to say. But responding to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, he stood and walked to the microphone. He looked at Roof’s face on the courtroom television screen, and God put these words on his lips: “I forgive you, and my family forgives you.” Then he issued a genuine plea: “Dylann, repent, confess … give your life to Jesus Christ, so that He can change it.”
A courtroom reporter observed: “Thompson’s wife was not yet buried, and he was actually offering Roof a way to salvation.” Another stated: “Even atheists had to see divinity in these families built by love. God was there in that courtroom.”
The Washington Post wrote: “One by one, those who chose to speak … offered [Roof] forgiveness … even as they described the pain of their losses.”
The Christian Examiner wrote that Dylann Roof’s actions had the opposite effect of a race war, “allowing the grieving families to put the Gospel’s power on full display for not only Roof but for a watching television audience.”
Outside the courtroom, police braced themselves for riots, but none came. The 345-year-old city erupted not in violence but in visible grace. More than 15,000 Charleston residents—of all colors, ages and faiths—joined hands, forming a human chain that stretched for three miles across the Arthur Ravenel Bridge, spanning the Cooper River and overlooking Charleston Harbor, where 18th-century ship captains had unloaded African human cargo to be sold in Charleston’s slave auctions.
Each person held a hand, bowed a head, and bridged the wide gap between two historically divided cultures as they honored the fallen “Emanuel Nine.” They became a visible human portrait of the power of Biblical forgiveness. Anthony’s words “I forgive you” had shocked the world and saved the city from erupting into a race riot.
Marshall Blalock, pastor of Charleston’s First Baptist Church, stated: “No one could deny the power of grace, the power of forgiveness, and the miracle of living out God’s grace when everyone expected justifiable vengeance. No one will ever forget this moment.”
Ten years have passed since the June 17, 2015, massacre at Mother Emanuel Church, and much has changed.
Across the state in the capitol city of Columbia, officials removed the Confederate flag, a long-standing symbol of racism. And the South Carolina House passed a hate crime bill strengthening penalties for violence targeting victims based on race.
Charleston, meanwhile, dismantled Marion Square’s monument honoring slavery advocate John C. Calhoun. Mayor John J. Tecklenburg formally apologized for the city’s historic role in slavery and formed a clergy advisory council dedicated to promoting racial unity.
The city also created the Office of Human Affairs and Racial Conciliation Commission.
Anthony Thompson founded an organization in 2020 whose mission is “to encourage forgiveness, repentance and reconciliation in our cities, states, and eventually in our nation, breaking down the walls that divide us and unifying all people in one family.”
The new International African American Museum, which had been 20 years in the making, opened in 2023, partnering with Mother Emanuel Church to celebrate its heritage and history.
This month, on the 10th anniversary of the tragic shooting, the church will dedicate the new Emanuel Nine Memorial on its grounds. The city’s churches will host remembrance services, ringing bells and lighting candles in memory of the victims who, in addition to Myra, include: Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Hurd, Rev. Sharonda Singleton, Tywanza Sanders, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor and Rev. Daniel Simmons.
Anthony continues to pray for Dylann Roof, now 28, as he sits on death row in a federal prison, awaiting his punishment.
“What Dylan Roof meant for harm,” Marshall Blalock states, “God was able to use for good. Only the Gospel of grace can change hearts. … The power of God’s grace still inspires, still motivates, and is a living legacy that marks our city.” ©2025 Denise George
Denise George, author of 31 nonfiction books, collaborated with the Reverend Anthony B. Thompson to write the book Called to Forgive: The Charleston Church Shooting, a Victim’s Husband, and the Path to Healing and Peace, published by Bethany House.
Photo: Grace Beahm/The Post And Courier / AP