CHARLESTON SHOOTING-TIPSTER
Church shooting tipster credits divine intervention
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. (AP) β The woman who spotted the car driven by the suspect in Wednesday night’s church shootings in Charleston, South Carolina, says God brought him to her attention.
Debbie Dills says she was on her way to work in North Carolina, singing and praying for the nine people who were killed, when she thought she recognized the car and driver she’d seen on the news.
She called her boss, who contacted police and then stayed in contact with her as she followed the suspect. Police responded quickly and arrested 21-year-old Dylann Roof.
Dills says the Lord “knew he needed to be caught” and she’s sure that “it was divine intervention.”
Authorities say Roof, who’s white, had spent nearly an hour with a Bible study group at the historic black church before the shooting.
Sound:
322-a-07-(Debbie Dills, florist who saw Charleston shooting suspect Dylan Storm Roof on Interstate 74 and reported it to police, in AP interview)-“the Lord did”-Debbie Dills says she spotted the suspect while she was on her way to work thinking about the shooting victims. (18 Jun 2015)
< 324-a-04-(Debbie Dills, florist who saw Charleston shooting suspect Dylan Storm Roof on Interstate 74 and reported it to police, in AP interview)-“was divine intervention”-Debbie Dills says God used her to get the suspect apprehended. (18 Jun 2015) < 325-a-11-(Debbie Dills, florist who saw Charleston shooting suspect Dylan Storm Roof on Interstate 74 and reported it to police, in AP interview)-“where I’m going”-Debbie Dills says she was on her cellphone while she followed the suspect, and told her boss she was fearful. (18 Jun 2015) < 323-a-03-(Debbie Dills, florist who saw Charleston shooting suspect Dylan Storm Roof on Interstate 74 and reported it to police, in AP interview)-“to be caught”-Debbie Dills says God brought the suspect and his car to her attention. (18 Jun 2015) < VATICAN-ENCYCLICAL-ABORTION Pope’s encyclical links abortion to environmental destruction VATICAN CITY (AP) β Pope Francis is criticizing environmentalists who show concern for preserving nature but not for the millions of human lives lost to abortion. In the encyclical released Thursday, Francis says human beings, their faith and the environment are all part of a single integral ecology. He asks, “How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?” In the encyclical, Francis accepts as fact that the world is getting warmer and that human activity is mostly to blame. Citing Scripture and his predecessors, the pope urges people of every faith and even no faith to save God’s creation. He calls for a cultural revolution to correct an economic system in which he says the rich exploit the poor, turning Earth into an “immense pile of filth.” Sound: 330-v-34-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–Pope Francis is criticizing environmentalists who show concern for preserving nature but not for the millions of human lives lost to abortion. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (18 Jun 2015) < SEVERE WEATHER-CHURCH CAMP The Latest on weather: Church camp sends kids home DAVIS, Okla. (AP) β More than 5,000 young people at a Baptist church camp in southern Oklahoma are being sent home early as the nearby Washita River is expected to reach historic levels. Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma Director Anthony Jordan announced Thursday that campers at Falls Creek near Davis are being sent home, although he said the camp was not directly at risk of flooding. Jordan said in a statement that camp officials were concerned about their ability to provide general maintenance and trash service because of flooding in nearby areas. Jordan says camp activities are being suspended for the rest of the week. Falls Creek spokesman James Swain says there were about 5,400 campers at Falls Creek this week. U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., was Falls Creek’s director of youth programming before stepping down to run for Congress in 2009. GOP 2016-CRUZ Presidential candidate Ted Cruz vows to defend religious freedom WASHINGTON (AP) β Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is criticizing fellow Republicans, including some of his presidential rivals, for failing to defend religious freedom. Speaking Thursday at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s conference in Washington, Cruz faulted them for going silent when controversy erupted over religious objection laws in Indiana and Arkansas. He said, “If we stand for our faith and our liberty in the Constitution, we will win and turn the country around.” Cruz urged his audience to pray that the Supreme Court won’t create a constitutional right to gay marriage. He said doing so would be to “an act of naked and lawless judicial activism.” Sound: 289-a-13-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Republican presidential candidate, at GOP Road to Majority conference)-“the country around”-Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz says conservative leaders can be powerful as long as they don’t shy away from controversy. (18 Jun 2015) < 287-a-11-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Republican presidential candidate, at GOP Road to Majority conference)-“the First Amendment”-Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz says religious liberty is in conflict with the movement to legalize gay marriage. (18 Jun 2015) < 288-a-19-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Republican presidential candidate, at GOP Road to Majority conference)-“to the Constitution (applause fades)”-Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz says he is worried that the Supreme Court will side against religious liberty when they rule on upcoming cases concerning gay marriage. ((note length of cut)) (18 Jun 2015) < INDIANA GOVERNOR Pence defiant on religious objections law in campaign launch INDIANAPOLIS (AP) β Indiana Gov. Mike Pence took a defiant tone in launching his 2016 re-election campaign, saying he’s ready to take on opponents seeking to use the uproar over the state’s religious objections law against him. Pence told the crowd at a GOP fundraising dinner Thursday night that he doesn’t tolerate discrimination against anyone but freedom of conscience and religion must be protected. The law Pence signed attracted a national outcry this spring as critics called it anti-gay and called for boycotts of Indiana. Pence says he bears some responsibility for the uproar, but that it’s been spurred by liberal special interests. About 50 protesters holding anti-Pence signs gathered outside the banquet hall. State Democratic Chairman John Zody says many people believe the religious objections law caused the state lasting harm. SUPREME COURT-CHURCH SIGNS Justices rule for small Arizona church in sign law dispute WASHINGTON (AP) β The Supreme Court has sided with an Arizona church in a dispute over a town’s sign law. The court unanimously agreed to strike down a law in Gilbert, Arizona, that set tougher rules for signs that direct people to Sunday church services than for signs for political candidates and real estate agents. The Good News Community Church complained that the law forced the church to put up smaller signs that could only be in place for short periods of time. Six of the nine justices ruled that the ordinance amounted to content-based discrimination. The other three justices only said there was no “sensible basis” for Gilbert’s law. Sound: 275-v-29-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–The Supreme Court has sided with an Arizona church in a dispute over a town’s sign law. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (18 Jun 2015) < ISRAEL-CHURCH FIRE Israel church set ablaze in possible Jewish extremist attack TABGHA, Israel (AP) β A fire has ripped through one of the most famous Catholic churches in the Holy Land, damaging the roof and burning prayer books in what authorities believe is an attack by Jewish extremists. Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the fire broke out at the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish in the middle of the night, causing extensive damage to the inside and outside of the building. A passage from a Jewish prayer, calling for the elimination of idol worship, was found in red spray paint on a wall outside the church. Police said they initially arrested 16 youths, all religious Jewish seminary students from West Bank settlements, but released them shortly thereafter. The church is one of the most popular stops for Christians visiting the Holy Land, marking the traditional spot of Jesus feeding thousands of people with a few loaves and fish. Sound: 284-a-07-(Father Gregory Collin, head of the Order of Saint Benedict in Israel, at news conference)-“to live here”-Father Gregory Collin, whose religious order maintains the damaged church, says what appears to be the Jewish burning of a Christian shrine is deplorable. (18 Jun 2015) < 285-a-07-(Andreas Michaelis, German ambassador to Israel, at news conference)-“right of worship”-Andreas Michaelis, German ambassador to Israel, says people of all faiths should deplore the attack. (18 Jun 2015) < PUERTO RICO-PRIEST SENTENCED Ex-Puerto Rico priest gets 11 years in sex abuse case SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) β A former Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for taking a teenage boy on a cruise ship vacation with the intent to engage in illegal sexual conduct. The U.S. Attorney’s Office on the U.S. Caribbean island says expelled priest Israel Berrios was sentenced Thursday. He pleaded guilty in August 2014. Prosecutors accused Berrios of giving the 15-year-old boy money, a computer and a camera and taking him on a four-day cruise to the Bahamas with his mother’s permission in July 2008. The victim, now a young adult, was apparently an altar boy at the time. Berrios previously served as director of a Catholic school in the mountain town of Aibonito and as a priest in the diocese of Caguas, south of the U.S. island’s capital. AUSTRALIA-ISLAMIC STATE Australia issues warrant for doctor recruiting in Syria CANBERRA, Australia (AP) β Australian police have issued an arrest warrant for an Australian doctor who appeared in an Islamic State recruitment video urging Western medical professionals to join him in Syria. Tareq Kamleh, a 29-year-old Australian born and educated doctor who had worked in several Australian public hospitals, appeared in the video in April describing his medical work in Syria as his “jihad for Islam.” Australian Federal Police said in a statement that if Kamleh returns to Australia, he can be arrested on terrorism charges that carry a maximum total of 45 years in prison. The charges include being a member of and recruiting for a terrorist organization.
