Reaction to the Emanuel 9 verdict

‘Justice has been served’

"It is my hope that the survivors, the families, and the people of South Carolina can find some peace in the fact that justice has been served."

— S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley

‘Legacy of the Emanuel 9 lives on’

"While today's verdict will not bring back those lost, it does ensure that the families of those murdered and injured at Mother Emanuel will see justice come to the evil man who perpetrated this heinous crime. ...

“As the killer now awaits sentencing, I want the families of those lost that day to know one thing: we are all still with you. While this chapter is now closed, the rest of this book has yet to be written. Your strength and courage has changed Charleston, South Carolina and our nation forever. We will not ever be able to fully thank you for showing us all the true meaning of righteousness, but what we can do is continue working every single day to ensure that the legacy of the Emanuel 9 lives on forever.

“We know that love can overcome hate, and that united we are greater than the sum of our parts. Because although a racist madman attempted to destroy us, and we will never forget the scars he gave us, what he really ended up doing was showing us what we must do every single day. Believe in love. Trust in each other. And be resolute in our determination to move forward together.”

— U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-Charleston

‘First ... step in rendering justice’

“This is the first and significant step in rendering justice for the nine victims who were murdered as they worshiped at Mother Emanuel AME Church. I know nothing can ever completely take away their pain, but I do hope the verdicts will provide some small measure of comfort to the families of the victims.

“If there was ever a justified guilty verdict, this was this case.”

— U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-Seneca

‘Families have shown heavenly grace’

"My prayers continue to go out to the families affected, and I think each one of us needs to find a way to send them a prayer here during the Christmas Season. These families have shown heavenly grace and inspired people from here at home and around the world to ask ‘how we might then live,’ in light of the example of grace they have indeed walked.

"It will be important that each one of us continues to pray. In this case, that the jurors will have heavenly guidance as the next phase of the trial begins in January, and they decide whether Mr. Roof should be sentenced to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.

"For now, though, we should all be thankful that there is peace in Charleston, that our legal processes have worked, and that we are on the road to justice being done in the wake of unimaginable tragedy."

— U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-Charleston

‘Honor them by working together’

"I thank the members of the jury for delivering the appropriate verdict in this awful case, and I wish them wisdom and strength as we await the sentencing phase. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the nine wonderful people we lost and with those who survived the acts of hate perpetrated that night. We must honor them by working together to prevent such a horrific act from happening again by rooting out racism and bigotry wherever it may appear in our society and by doing what we can to prevent those with hateful intentions from acquiring deadly weapons."

— S.C. Democratic Party chair Jaime Harrison

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Reaction to the Emanuel 9 verdict."