South Carolina is home to Ku Klux Klan and 18 other known hate groups

In light of Wednesday's massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, it has been confirmed by the Southern Poverty Law Center that in addition to two factions of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), South Carolina houses 17 known and legal hate groups. These groups are mostly made up of white supremacists or "white nationalists."

Click through this slideshow to see pictures of the Charleston shooting:

It has not been confirmed whether or not Dylann Storm Roof, the 21-year-old man currently in police custody who is suspected of killing 9 people in the massacre, belongs to one of these hate groups. However, the shooting is under investigation as a hate crime.

In the last year, four hate crimes were committed in South Carolina, including the distribution of KKK leaflets in Seneca.

Other hate groups active in South Carolina include a chapter of Confederate Hammerskins (a racist skinhead movement), neo-Nazi groups, an anti-gay church, Americans Have Had Enough (anti-immigration group), the Council of Conservative Citizens (against racial integration), and two branches of League of the South, whose website states:

Including South Carolina, only five states in the country do not have laws against hate crimes. Watch this video to see how hate groups develop:

More from AOL.com:
Suspect captured in fatal Charleston church shooting
Mark Zuckerberg donates $5 million to undocumented students
Social media fiends sound off on lazy politicians