South Carolina

Court to hear appeal to reinstate lawsuit in Charleston church massacre

FILE -In this Friday, June 19, 2015 file photo, the men of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. lead a crowd of people in prayer outside the Emanuel AME Church, after a memorial for the nine people killed by Dylann Roof in Charleston, S.C.

RICHMOND, Va. — Survivors and family members of nine people killed in a racist attack at a South Carolina church are asking a federal appeals court to reinstate their lawsuit.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit filed against the federal government over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to buy the gun he used in the 2015 shooting.

[Daughters of Charleston church shooting victim bring mother's memories to Charlotte]

A judge dismissed the lawsuit last year, but sharply criticized the government for what he called its "abysmally poor policy choices" on how it runs the national database for firearm background checks.

The FBI has acknowledged that a 2015 drug charge should have prevented Roof from buying the gun.

Roof was sentenced to death in the massacre at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church.

Associated Press

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