Friends of the shooter tell INSIDE EDITION that there was nothing suspicious about Dylann Roof's behavior before he killed nine in a South Carolina church.
Is accused church massacre killer Dylann Roof really the author of a hate-filled manifesto posted online - or did an accomplice write it for him?
“My guess is that he had help,” famed criminologist Professor Jack Levin told INSIDE EDITION. He said he does not believe Roof, a high school dropout, has the wherewithal to write the manifesto.
“The idea that a guy who wasn't able to get through the ninth grade - he repeated it a number of times - was able to write a coherent pretty well written manifesto is a shock. It’s surprising,” he said.
In one passage, Roof wrote about starting a race war. "I have no choice. I am not in a position to go into the ghetto alone and fight. Someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world and I guess that has to be me."
The manifesto was posted online along with 60 photos of roof in sickening poses, including pointing his .45-caliber Glock pistol at the camera, and burning and spitting on an American flag.
He also posed at a number of Confederate heritage sites and museums and waved the Confederate flag. Were all those photos taken with a timer, or did someone else take those photos? And if so, how much did they know of the massacre plot?
One photo was obviously snapped by Roof himself, but the framing of other photos suggest that someone else was behind the camera.
Either way, the photos carry the same message, according to Professor Levin: “He wanted people to believe that he was a dangerous and powerful figure, not someone you could mess around with,” he said.
Friends said Roof was acting normally 24 hours before the massacre - and told them he was going to see the movie Jurassic World at a theater in Columbia, South Carolina.
Meanwhile, the massacre has reignited the debate over the Confederate flag, a symbol of hate to so many, but still flies over the South Carolina capitol as a tribute to the state's history.
Read: Florist Who Chased Dylann Roof Before Arrest: 'I Couldn't Believe It Was Him'
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted: “Remove it now to honor #Charleston victims.” President Obama agreed: “Good point, Mitt,” he tweeted.
One Charleston woman flies the Confederate flag at her home - to the annoyance of her black neighbors, who have asked her to take it down.
HBO's John Oliver joined the debate: “Lower the flag to half-staff, and when it's at half-staff, why not keep lowering it all the way down. And once you're holding it in your hands, take it off the flagpole completely fold it -- or don't bother -- put it in a box, label it 'bad flag,' and put it somewhere that no one can see it.”
Watch Below: America Mourns the South Carolina Church Massacre Victims
