Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), a member of the House Judiciary Committee and Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus, released the following statement on the tragic shooting at South Carolina’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church:                                                                                          

“My thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives were tragically taken and the entire Charleston community.

The apparent hate crime at Emanuel AME Church should shock the conscience of every American. This shooting serves as a painful reminder that the cancer of racial hatred continues to plague our country like a malignant tumor. The victims appear to have been targeted simply because they were God-fearing, church-going African-Americans. We have come a long way in America, but we still have a long way to go.”