Nation: A 21-year-old avowed racist is expected in court today to face charges that he massacred nine people at a black church in Charleston, SC. Dylann Roof, of Lexington, SC, was grabbed during a traffic stop yesterday in North Carolina. Friends and acquaintances said he had recently begun to spew racist opinions and talked about hurting a lot of people.

Witnesses said Roof sat for one hour Wednesday night at a Bible study meeting at the Emanuel AME Church before pulling out a gun and killing six women and three men. They said the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of those killed, tried to talk the gunmen out of it, saying “You don’t have to do this.”

According to accounts, the gunman said, “Yes. You are raping our women and taking over the country.”

Roof had bought a .45 caliber pistol with birthday money from his parents for his 21st birthday. Pointing out how easy it was for Roof to buy a gun, President Barack Obama said, “At some point, we as a country have to reckon with the fact that this type of massacre does not happen in other advanced countries”.

The Supremes: The Supreme Court ruled that Texas is not violating free speech rights by prohibiting the display of the Confederate flag on license plates. The case involves a vanity plate design for the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The majority opinion said that what appears on license plates, even vanity plates with personal messages, is government speech and therefore immune to claims of censorship. Governments, the opinion argues, can decide what goes on a license plate. The ruling allows Texas and nine other states to keep their bans.

Nation: The Prosecution is expected to complete its case today in the trial of Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes. The last scheduled witness is Ashley Moser, who was paralyzed in the shooting. Her six-year-old daughter was killed.

World: Greek citizens pulled more than 1 billion euros out of their banks in a single day in anticipation of the country defaulting on its debt and pulling out of the European Union. Greece has less than two weeks to a deadline for reaching a deal with its creditors. The country may have to impose controls to keep people from emptying the banks.

Heavy Weather: The remains of a tropical depression is bringing heavy rains and the possibility of flash floods to the northern plains today. Three deaths have already been attributed to the storm. A two-year-old boy was killed in Oklahoma when he was swept out of his father’s arms.

The Life of Brian: NBC News announced yesterday that its disgraced anchor Brian Williams is being sent down to the minors at MSNBC. Lester Holt, 56, becomes the permanent anchor of Nightly News.

Williams was pulled from the anchor chair for telling tall tales about his experiences as a reporter. He’s quoted in the company press release as saying, “I am grateful for the chance to return to covering the news.”

A lesser figure would have been fired without question, but Williams was able to lock NBC into negotiations over returning to the air. At that level, ethics and morality are thrown out. It’s about money and protecting the franchise that makes it. NBC may well have kept Williams just to stop him from becoming the competition somewhere else. The website The Wrap reports that he will still be paid close to $10 million a year.

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