Depraved Indifference: In the wake of Charleston shooting, we must all become first responders

June 19, 2015

Writer

Dylann Roof wanted to start a race war when he shot the church in Charleston, SC, but he picked the wrong city and the wrong people. The people are rallying together, and prayers are pouring in from all over the country. Glenn and some of his friends flew to Charleston to pray for the community and provide comfort. On the way there, they discussed the dangers of "depraved indifference", and why people must stand together now in opposition to the hate that led to this attack.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment:

GLENN: From Charleston, South Carolina, in WSC radio. Hello. And welcome to the Glenn Beck program. We're glad that you've joined us today. I got up in New York at about 4 o'clock this morning. It was about 11:00 or 10 o'clock that we finally found where we would be gathering today in Charleston, South Carolina.

Yesterday, when we spoke, I said, I just felt that I needed to be in South Carolina. I needed to be in Charleston. If you felt that way, join me in Charleston today. And all day we looked for a place -- and we had one early in the morning. We were ready to announce it. There was a bomb threat. And the city went kind of in lockdown. And things went nuts again in the city. And they're struggling with so much.

And they wanted to put us into -- they wanted to put us into an arena away from the church. And I finally said last night, you know, let's just gather. Let's just meet in a park. Let's just come together. Hold each other's hands. Hold each other's arms up. And pray together.

Well, this morning, I got up at about 4 o'clock. And I checked my Facebook page, and I checked the email. And there were people coming from California, from Texas, Nevada, Utah, coming from all up and down the eastern seaboard. From Florida, from Atlanta, from Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri. I don't know if there's going to be 25 people here or 250 people. I don't know. And I saw all of that, and it really was Field of Dreams: If you build it, they will come. And then I realized, but I didn't build a baseball diamond. I don't know what game we're supposed to be playing here. I don't have a baseball bat, and I don't have a diamond. I don't know what we're supposed to do.

And I got on my knees this morning and prayed that at some point an answer would come of, okay, well, now we're here together, what is it we're supposed to do? And I think the answer is just love each other. As we arrived here in Charleston this morning early, I was overwhelmed with a kindness and how somber everybody is, but yet determined.

This is not Baltimore. This is not Ferguson. This is not -- this is unlike anything we've seen since I think September 11th. You know, how September 11th happened. The next day we gathered today. And we all stood together to give blood, even though there wasn't any need for blood. But we stood together. And we let the people in Pennsylvania know that we love them. We let the people know at the Pentagon that we loved them. That we were all New Yorkers that day. And just for that brief moment of time, America became her better self.

It's found out now that the shooter, Dylann Roof, the killer wanted to start a race war. What a sad disappointment he has now, knowing that no race war is going to start.

He picked the wrong city. He picked the wrong people. If that's what you're trying to start, you don't -- you don't pick a fight with a place called the Holy City. You don't -- you don't pick a city where the highest points in the sky are not skyscrapers, but church steeples. As I was walking around New York the last couple of days, I'm always -- I'm always in awe of the Manhattan skyline. I'm always in awe -- just, I walk down the street. And I look at some of these buildings, I was standing in front of our hotel this morning. And I was talking to Rabbi Kula who has joined us and some other people that joined us, and I said, look at this building. And I told the history of the building. Bored him to tears. But as I told him the history of the building, I am so -- I love what man has done on that island. But at night, when I walked by myself or in the morning as I was walking in the park, I looked up and I couldn't see anything but the glow of the city. So I am never marveling at what God has done. I can't see the stars. I can rarely see the sun. I can't see the moon. Sometimes you see the clouds, but that's it.

You're only really allowed to look up and see what man has done. And you lose your place. In a small town like Charleston, you still look up. It's not a sea of skyscrapers. The highest points in the sky are the church steeples. So as you look up, you see what man is doing, praising God. And you can still see the stars and the sun and the moon and all of his creations.

And I think it keeps you rooted.

This is not the 1860s, and it's not the 1960s. And this is a town that's not going to be dragged back down into it. This is a town that knows who she is.

Do we have problems with people? Yeah. We have race problems all around the country. Was this guy a bad racist? You bet he was. Did people know about it? Yes, they did.

His roommate knew for six months that he was planning something like this. Those were his words. Something like this. Wanted to start a race war or a civil war. Now, think of that. You're 20, 21 years old, and you have a friend, a roommate who is carrying a gun, who you think may be a little off. Who wants to start a civil war, who wants to start a race war, and you don't say anything.

It's not enough to get away from him. It's not enough to ignore.

As we were on the plane today, we talked about that story. And because we didn't have any Wi-Fi on the plane, we -- we grappled with what it was. Is that depraved indifference?

I think it is. Depraved indifference. Your indifference is so deep, that you do nothing. You know what's coming. You know what somebody is going to do. You hear them. But you do nothing. What this man did when he walked into the church, it was depraved. What his friends did, who knew that it was coming is equally as depraved.

As we -- as we landed and our Wi-Fi started to work, we looked up depraved indifference. It's a legal term. And you couldn't charge his roommate with depraved indifference. It's not depraved indifference.

However, may I ask, are we citizens of the United States, or are we citizens of another kingdom? Do we lose our first citizenship by merely obeying the laws of our second citizenship? Do we -- has our second citizenship overtaken and trumped everything of our first citizenship, to the point where we do nothing because we're afraid of the law. We're afraid that somebody's going to be offended. We don't know what to do. Let's call somebody else because, as we learned in the 1970s, because that's when this term first began, you call a first responder. You call a first responder. No, no. Your citizenship, your first citizenship makes you the first responder.

The police, they're the second responders. You're the first. You're the first and really sometimes last line of defense. If you hear somebody saying things like that, you report it.

This week, I was on with Howard Stern. And he brought up the suicide of my mother. And we started talking about that. And he said, you know, there was a press report a few years ago that somebody said it wasn't a suicide. I said, you know, Howard, I didn't even respond to that. Because, A, how dare you start to investigate something -- my mother's death from 1979. You actually spent the time just to discredit me, you started going through the death records and the police reports of my mother's death from 1979, that's ghoulish. It's fiendish. It's cynical. It's sick.

But let me tell you how I know. My mother left a note. And more importantly, something that we hadn't talked about. We never talked about until the press started to say it. She went to my aunt, the Sunday before, and she said, you know, Joanne, I'm going to kill myself. I can't do it anymore. Well, my aunt had heard that many times. My grandmother heard that many times. They had offered help. They had begged her for help. They had done everything they could, except call and have her committed.

I'm going to end it. This week, I'm going to end it. Now, what did my aunt have to live through? What was she carrying around? She took it seriously, but not seriously enough. Because she had heard it before over and over again. And nobody does that. Because this was the first suicide in my family. We've had two suicides in my family. This was the first time it had happened. And believe me, I know. When somebody says, hey, I'm thinking about killing myself, you take action.

Well, I know. But they're my friend. And I don't want to -- no, no, no. You take action. You watch them. You get them to a hospital. You get them to a doctor. You get them to call a suicide prevention line. You don't just say that.

And if you do say that and your friend rejects you and says, hey, thanks a lot for telling everybody. Thanks a lot for calling the cops.

I'm your friend! I'm your friend. I'm your family member. That's what I'm supposed to do because I'm the first responder.

I love you, and if you hate me because I tried to save your life because you said you're going to throw it away, then you can hate me. I love you.

Now, how does this roommate feel today?

I asked this morning when I got here to WSC, has anybody heard from the parents? This is the Amish moment. The Amish mourn together. The Amish -- when the truck driver came in and shot all of the schoolchildren in the Amish school and everybody was raising money for the Amish, the Amish that day went and mourned with the killer's family. Begged them to stay in the community. Please don't move away. We don't hate you. We love you.

Has anybody reached out to the killer's family? I don't know the answer. The people I've asked don't know the afternoons. I'm guessing the media has. How do you feel? How do you feel? What did you think? What did you know? When did you know it? And when they say how do you feel, they don't mean that. They want a juicy story. How do they feel? How would you feel?

Your son looks the way he does in the pictures. And everybody in America says, how did you not know? Look at that picture.

Perhaps because we all struggle with our children. Because perhaps all of our children go through phases and none of us can accept that our children would be so crazy that we would -- that we would raise somebody that could do something so evil.

Hindsight is 20/20. Is it the parents' fault? By the way, he bought the gun. The parents didn't give him the gun. He took money that the parents gave him, and he bought the gun. This is just another way to demonize the family. Did you know? Look at that. Look at the culture in the South. Look at these gun lovers, giving their kid who looks like that, a gun.

No. They gave him money. They were estranged. Imagine your son -- have you ever been asked for money? I remember the time that I was on the street, and I think Stu you were with me on the street of New York. And there was a woman who looked like she was strung out on heroin, and I mean badly strung out. She was shaking. She was crying. It was one of the most incredible things I've seen in my life. And I stopped on the streets of New York, which you don't do, and I got down on my hands and knees on the streets of New York, which you definitely don't do. And I talked to her.

How can I help you? Can I get you to a hospital? What can I do?

She was beyond strung out. I gave her money. Everybody mocked me and made fun of me. How could you do that? Because I felt like I had to do something.

A month later, we found out, she was a scam artist. She was making like $90,000 a year just doing that. She was like an actress.

We don't know what's real and what's not. But once we allow somebody else to rule our heart, once we allow somebody else to take care of our problems, once we allow our second citizenship to overrule our first citizenship, we're done.

Today is the day we worry about our first citizenship. And today is the day that at 2 o'clock, I'm going to be here in Charleston, South Carolina, in the town square, just right by the church. What's it called? Marion Square, by the statue of John Calhoun. And we're just going to meet as friends. We don't have a permit. We're not going to do anything. There's no stage. There's no microphone. It's just friends gathering together. We're going to walk to the church, and we're going to pray together. We're going to hold people's hands and hold people's hearts up. And I invite you to join us.

Glenn: Government workers bought luxury cars with YOUR tax dollars

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The deep state isn’t a conspiracy theory — it’s a reality. And the corrupt, free-spending Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is just one example of how Washington insiders enrich themselves.

A little-known agency in Washington perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with our bloated, corrupt government: the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. It should be the poster child of everything that Elon Musk is exposing.

The agency was established in 1947 under the Labor Management Relations Act to serve as an independent agency mediating disputes between unions and businesses — a noble mission, perhaps. But like so many government institutions, it has rotted into something far removed from its original purpose.

The FMCS goes beyond mismanagement into blatant corruption and theft.

What was once a mechanism for labor stability has morphed into an unchecked slush fund — an exclusive playground for bureaucrats living high on taxpayer dollars.

The FMCS is a textbook case of government waste, an agency that no one was watching, where employees didn’t even bother showing up for work — some hadn’t for years. And yet they still collected paychecks and spent government money — our money — on their personal luxuries.

Luxury cars and cell phone bills

The Department of Government Efficiency discovered how FMCS employees used government credit cards — intended for official business — to lease luxury cars, cover personal cell phone bills, and even subscribe to USA Today. The agency’s information technology director, James Donnan, apparently billed taxpayers his wife’s cell phone bill, cable TV subscriptions in multiple homes, and personal subscriptions.

FMCS officials commissioned portraits of themselves and hung them in their offices, and you footed the bill. They took exotic vacations and hired their friends and relatives to keep the gravy train rolling.

The FMCS goes beyond mismanagement into blatant corruption and theft — and it went on for decades, unnoticed and unchallenged.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to abolish the FMCS — a necessary and long-overdue move. But the FMCS is just one of many agencies within the federal government burning through billions of taxpayer dollars. How many more slush funds exist in the shadows, funneling money into the pockets of bureaucrats who produce nothing? How many government-funded NGOs operate in direct opposition to American interests?

Perhaps the most disturbing question is why Americans tolerate such corruption. Why do so many Americans tolerate this? Why is the left — supposedly the party of the people — defending the very institutions that rob working-class Americans blind?

Corruption beyond bureaucracy

The recent rallies led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and their socialist acolytes claim to be a grassroots uprising against corruption and greed. But GPS data from these rallies tells a different story. The majority of attendees aren’t ordinary citizens fed up with the status quo. They’re professional activists — serial agitators who bounce from protest to protest.

Roughly 84% of devices tracked at these rallies were present at multiple Kamala Harris events. A staggering 31% appeared at over 20 separate demonstrations, tied to Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and pro-Palestinian causes.

Many of these organizations receive federal grant money — our tax dollars — and they’re using those funds to protest the very policies that threaten to cut off their financial lifeline.

This isn’t democracy in action. This is political theater — astroturfing perfected. And the American taxpayer is funding it.

Rooting out corruption

Trump was a battering ram against this corrupt system. Elon Musk is a surgeon, meticulously exposing the infection that has festered for decades — and that’s why the leftists hate him even more than they hate Trump. Musk threatens to dismantle the financial web that sustains their entire operation.

When we allow the government to grow unchecked and our leaders to prioritize their own wealth and power over the good of the nation, figures like Trump and Musk are necessary. Rome didn’t fall because of an external invasion but rather due to internal decay that looked an awful lot like what we see today.

We must demand better. We must refuse to tolerate this corruption any longer. The FMCS may be gone, but the fight to root out this deep-seated corruption is far from over.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Did the CIA hide the real truth behind JFK's assassination?

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Many were disappointed by the recent release of the JFK files, frustrated by the apparent lack of answers to decades-old questions. The problem? They’re asking the wrong question.

Everyone wants a "who"—a smoking gun, someone to blame. It’s understandable; Americans crave justice for a slain president, to hold the culprits of one of the 20th century’s greatest crimes accountable. But the real answer isn’t a "who"—it’s a "what." That "what" is the CIA and proof of their nefarious dealings since the 1960s.

In his most recent TV special, Glenn delves into the JFK files, where he found the crucial information that everyone else seemed to miss. Be sure to watch the TV special here.

The CIA's Dirty Fingerprints

Did Oswald act alone? I tested the Warren Commission's "lone gunman" narrative and discovered something SHOCKING.

Watch the full experiment TONIGHT at 9PM ET only on https://t.co/Ki1CX633fq pic.twitter.com/DwNSUFXJ1r
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) March 26, 2025

While the recent JFK files don’t explicitly pin the assassination on the CIA, the evidence between the lines is compelling.

If you follow Glenn on X, you’ve seen his newest artifact: an exact replica of Lee Harvey Oswald’s rifle. Glenn tested it at the range, attempting to replicate the notoriously difficult shot Oswald allegedly made that fateful day in Dallas. While Glenn shares more takeaways in his TV special, one thing stood out immediately: the rifle’s abysmal quality, its shoddy scope, and the odd caliber of ammunition it uses.

Oswald’s rifle, a Mannlicher-Carcano, is chambered in 6.5mm—an unusual caliber. Much like today, the average gun store in the ‘60s didn’t stock 6.5mm rounds. The largest known supply was owned by the CIA, who had shipped the ammo from Greece after World War II. Suspiciously, there’s no record of where Oswald got his ammunition, but the JFK files confirm that the gun store where he bought the Mannlicher-Carcano had CIA connections.

It’s well-known that Oswald defected to the USSR and lived there before returning to the U.S. The JFK files reveal that from the moment he touched down stateside, the CIA tracked him like a hawk. They followed him across the country and even to Mexico City—but, conveniently, seemed to lose him in Dallas just as President Kennedy arrived. What a coincidence.

Whether by design or gross incompetence, the CIA greased Oswald’s path, letting him slip unhindered into that sixth-floor Book Depository window.

The Cover-Up

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If the JFK files aren’t the smoking gun many hoped for, why did the CIA fight so hard to keep them buried?

The answer is trust. Hard as it may be to imagine today, Americans in the ‘60s trusted their government—at least more than they do now. This cover-up preserved that trust longer than it might have lasted, allowing the CIA to pull off more scandals before the public caught on. From Benghaziand 9/11 to COVID-19 and January 6, the same dirty marks found in the JFK files stain these events. It’s about saving face. The files make the CIA look incompetent at best, complicit at worst.

This might feel like common knowledge today—especially to Glenn’s audience—but 40 or 50 years ago, saying such things could land you in the loony bin. It’s taken 60 years of growing suspicion to reach this point. Imagine if the JFK files had been available back then. Could we have stopped six decades of CIA shenanigans in their tracks?

The thought is chilling.

What Now?

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The files don’t name a mastermind or explicitly confirm the darkest JFK assassination conspiracies that have swirled for decades—but they’re far from empty. They expose a disturbing truth: the CIA’s unchecked power in the ‘60s echoes into today.

In one of his most exciting TV specials yet, Glenn delves deep into the files, proving why we can’t ignore these revelations. Stop chasing a "who" and start demanding accountability for the "what." Only by confronting this can we hope to rein in the agency that’s dodged scrutiny for too long.

Glenn: The magazine they don't want you to read

Blaze Media

Frontier isn’t just another magazine — it’s a handcrafted, premium publication featuring bold, thought-provoking stories you won’t find anywhere else.

Frontier isn’t just another flimsy, kitschy magazine like the ones lining the checkout aisle of your local grocery store. It is a premium, handcrafted publication, telling you stories that actually matter — about people blazing new trails in technology, reviving forgotten architectural wonders, and forging new pathways for meaningful cultural change, just to name a few highlights from past and upcoming issues. Every page is curated with intention, offering a level of depth and substance that’s increasingly rare in today’s media landscape.

For the second issue, I welcomed Frontier’s team to my Idaho ranch for its feature, “The Architecture of Memory and Meaning.” My ranch is more than a home — it’s a testament to faith, family, and legacy. Every detail was designed with intention, and every artifact inside has a purpose. This piece shows how you too can turn your home into a space for legacy, beauty, and a testimony to things that really matter to you.

Frontier will set you apart from everyone else who doomscrolls through the same routine stories in the mainstream news cycle.

Frontier’s team also sat down with Michael Malice for an in-depth profile, “The Miseducation of Michael Malice.” Whether you love him, hate him, or are just trying to figure him out, Malice is one of the most fascinating voices in our culture today. This piece goes beyond the snark and the tweets, diving deep into what makes Malice tick.

For the late-night radio junkies, “Live From the High Desert” is a must-read. This piece is a tribute to Art Bell and the millions of late-night listeners who faithfully tuned in to his masterful storytelling as he unraveled the mysteries of the universe, inspiring an entire generation of truth-seekers. From government conspiracies and UFOs to the unexplained, Bell’s legacy is alive and well in these pages.

Readers of Frontier’s first issue are already familiar with the magazine’s caliber and quality. If you haven’t grabbed your copy, it’s not too late. The first 500 subscribers to Frontier’s second issue will also get a copy of the premiere issue.

Frontier is only available through Blaze Unlimited, which, in addition to Frontier’s trailblazing stories, includes VIP access to exclusive events, exclusive member-only content, and top-tier customer support. This membership will set you apart from everyone else who doomscrolls through the same routine stories in the mainstream news cycle. Blaze Unlimited gives you access to the stories that matter most — and the people and events who will challenge you to think bigger, probe deeper, and push the limits into new frontiers. Using promo code GLENN500 will give you $40 off your new Blaze Unlimited membership.

This isn’t just about reading Frontier — it’s about living it. Don’t miss your chance to be part of it.

Editor's note: This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The Left's war on Tesla owners

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Across the country, Teslas are being torched by the very people who, just a few years ago, championed them as the future of sustainable transportation.

Recently, Glenn highlighted the heinous actions targeting Tesla owners and dealerships. He reached the same conclusion as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi: these are acts of domestic terrorism. Tesla owners are being doxxed; a dealership in Las Vegas was firebombed, vandalized, and shot at. Similar attacks have struck South Carolina, Oregon, and Colorado, where Molotov cocktails destroyed multiple Tesla vehicles.

But this isn’t really about cars—it’s a symptom of a deeper rot that has eroded any principles the Left once held. Just as they celebrated the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the attacks on Tesla reflect a lust for destruction—a self-righteous anger that disregards decency and the sanctity of life.

For them, the ends justify the means.

A Pattern of Lawlessness

Ethan Miller / Staff | Getty Images

The attacks on Tesla owners and dealerships aren’t random; they form an emerging pattern that exposes the Left’s true motives.

A quick look at the alleged grievances of the protesters, vandals, and arsonists harassing electric vehicles and their owners reveals a thin veneer masking their deeds. Their motives range from semi-rational—disagreeing with Elon Musk’s actions and the goals of DOGE —to outlandish, like labeling Musk a Nazi or fascist. Yet, rational or not, their actions far outweigh the severity of their complaints. Their crimes include keying and spray-painting privately owned Teslas, vandalizing dealerships (including firing rounds into a Tesla service center in Las Vegas), and using Molotov cocktails to ignite Teslas in cities nationwide. As noted, these aren’t the acts of disgruntled voters but of domestic terrorists.

Glenn recently tied this Tesla terrorism to the brutal murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. Just as liberals rejoice over burning Teslas today, they cheered when Thompson was gunned down in New York’s streets, leaving his children fatherless days before Christmas. Much like the Tesla attacks, the Left justified their jubilation with half-baked critiques of the U.S. healthcare system, sandwiched between callous jokes about the slain CEO. It’s not about cars or insurance—it runs deeper.

Hypocrisy Exposed

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Rules for thee, not for me.

This theme keeps resurfacing. Remember when the Left was obsessed with climate change? “It’s the biggest threat to humanity,” they declared, warning we couldn’t drive cars or eat beef because their emissions would doom us all. They once praised Musk, hailing Tesla as the future of transportation. But now that Musk defies their ever-shifting liberal orthodoxy, Tesla must die—environment be damned. It’s a replay of the pandemic’s peak: while they preached staying home, wearing double masks, keeping six feet apart, and “following the science,” they burned, looted, and rioted through nearly every major U.S. city—rules for thee, not for me.

Owning a Tesla no longer earns eco-warrior cred—it marks you as a closet Nazi, liable to get your car keyed. The same crowd that once fretted over cow farts endangering the planet now sets electric cars ablaze. One can hardly imagine that the fumes from hundreds of pounds of burning lithium, plastic, and chemicals in a Tesla are eco-friendly.

Tyranny of Anger

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What’s the takeaway? What’s the common thread?

The Left isn’t bound by values—not even their own. Nothing is sacred to them; destruction is all they crave. Climate change, the sanctity of life, and “following the science” are mere excuses for outrage, discarded when they obstruct their lust to destroy. Their twisted ideology preaches that building, improving, or creating is evil—only taking and tearing down matter. They seethe at the sight of creation. From Tesla’s burning hulks to Thompson’s blood on the pavement, their anger trumps your rights every time.

Glenn has been warning of the collapse of our common values for years. If we don’t fight this moral rot and defend the values that built America—law, life, liberty—we’ll lose them to the flames of their rage.

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