In a somber press conference Thursday, President Obama mourned the nine victims who were killed when a gunman opened fire Wednesday night during a prayer meeting at a Charleston, South Carolina church. Obama decried the attack, which the FBI is investigating as a hate crime, for its allegedly racist undertones, and lamented the lack of tighter gun-control laws. "Once again, innocent people were killed because someone who intended harm had no trouble getting hands on a gun," he said. "At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence doesn't happen in other advanced countries... with this frequency."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Discover the wild beauty of Iceland's untamed landscapesThe Week Recommends From ice climbing and backcountry skiing to dining inside a lava cliff, there is plenty to do
-
Trump tariffs: five scenarios for the world's economyThe Explainer A US recession? A trade war with China? How 'Liberation Day' could realign the globe
-
Warfare: an 'honest' account of brutal engagement in IraqThe Week Recommends Alex Garland's film focuses on the 'overwhelming, sensory journey' of conflict
-
Texas arrests midwife on felony abortion chargesSpeed Read Maria Margarita Rojas and an employee at one of her clinics are the first to be criminally charged under Texas' near-total abortion ban
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squadspeed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said
-
Mexico extradites 29 cartel figures amid US tariff threatSpeed Read The extradited suspects include Rafael Caro Quintero, long sought after killing a US narcotics agent
-
Leonard Peltier released from prisonSpeed Read The Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents had his life sentence commuted by former President Joe Biden
-
Ex-Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 yearsSpeed Read The former New Jersey senator was convicted on federal bribery and corruption charges last year
-
Police ID driver of exploded Cybertruck, can't see motiveSpeed Read An Army Green Beret detonated a homemade bomb in a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
-
Teenage girl kills 2 in Wisconsin school shootingSpeed Read 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow fatally shot a teacher and student at Abundant Life Christian School
-
Penny acquitted in NYC subway choking deathSpeed Read Daniel Penny was found not guilty of homicide in the 2023 choking death of Jordan Neely
