Santorum: No question SC shooting was ‘act of terrorism’

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Sunday there is no doubt the killing of nine people in a South Carolina church last week was an act of terrorism. 

The formal charges against the alleged shooter — whether they be at the state or federal level — are beside the point, Santorum said. Justice will be served, regardless, he said.  

{mosads}“I don’t think there’s any question this is an act of terrorism and it’s as purely evil as we’ve seen in this country in a long, long time,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Justice Department last week said it is looking at the crime from all angles, including as a possible hate crime or an act of domestic terrorism. However, FBI Director James Comey on Saturday said he did not see the political aspect of the crime that would make it terrorism. 

Dylann Roof, 21, has been charged on nine murder counts after allegedly opening fire in the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. on Wednesday night. 

Santorum on Sunday said the debate about the flying of the Confederate flag at South Carolina’s capitol is better left to the state. 

“I take the position that the federal government really has no role in determining what the states are going to do,” he said.

He added: “My opinion is that we should let the people of South Carolina go through the process of making this decision.”