Charleston, August 9 (RHC)-- In the United States, supporters of the man who punched Dylann Roof, the white gunman accused of killing nine Black parishioners at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in June 2015, started an online fundraising campaign that led to the vigilante-turned-hero’s release early Saturday morning.

Dwayne Stafford was released from Charleston County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond, just one day after he punched Roof in the jail’s shower area. The website Taking a Stand Against Discrimination (TASAD) launched an on-line donation campaign for Stafford.

The assault had sparked reactions on social media from groups such as Anonymous, who also called for donations to go toward Stafford's jail commissary account.

Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon said he did not know what motivated the 25-year-old inmate Dwayne Stafford, who is Black, to punch Roof numerous times in the face and back. Officials were unaware of any verbal exchanges between the two inmates in the past, he said.

Prosecutors have said Roof's attack on the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015 was racially motivated. Before he had attacked the worshipers at the church, Roof had released a lengthy, hate-infused manifesto declaring his hatred of Black people. Stafford was booked into the jail in January, 2015 and is awaiting trial on strong-armed robbery and first-degree assault charges.

Stafford's attack left Roof with bruises on his face and back, but without serious injuries. Officials had initially stated that Stafford would be charged with assault, but Sheriff Al Cannon has confirmed Roof and his lawyer are not going to be pressing charges.

The news of the attack was greeted with applause on social media. “Whoever assaulted Dylan Roof in jail? Get that man a Whopper!” wrote one Twitter user, in a sarcastic reference to Roof's arresting officers who bought him a hamburger before carting him off to jail.