Owner of NFL’s Carolina Panthers to pay for funerals of the nine victims in Charleston church massacre

Article by Andy Clayton, New York Daily News

The owner of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers is paying for the funeral costs of the nine victims killed in Wednesday’s church massacre in Charleston.

Jerry Richardson detailed his donation in a letter that was shared via social media by Bakari Sellers, a democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

“Please accept the enclosed check from the Carolina Panthers in the amount of $100,000 to provide $10,000 per family to help defray funeral costs and other financial needs of each,” Richardson’s letter read, “and $10,000 for the church as a memorial honoring the victims. Our hearts are one with those who grieve the loss of these inviduals.”

A spokesperson for the Panthers didn’t want to comment on the specifics of the donation,the Charlotte Observer reported.

“But know our hearts are one with those who grieve the loss of these individuals,” Steven Drummond wrote in a text message to the newspaper.

“Just so happy to give a voice and help facilitate,” Rep. Sellers wrote in a followup tweet. “Thank you thank you to the Carolina Panthers and owner Jerry Richardson.”

Dylann Roof, 21, is charged with the murder of nine black people in a historic Charleston church – the Emanuel AME Church – on Wednesday night. Roof, who was arrested Thursday in North Carolina, told police he hoped his mass murder would spark a race war.