Charleston Shooting Victims’ Funerals Begin Today, SC Governor’s Decision To Remove The Confederate Flag Gets Mixed Reactions

In the wake of what has been an incredibly tense and difficult week in Charleston, South Carolina, following a shooting at a historic African-American church, the funerals of the victims began today. The shooting was carried out against Emmanuel African Episcopal Methodist Church in Charleston this past Wednesday. The shooting took the lives of nine men and women. Suspected shooter Dylann Roof, 21, is now in police custody.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the suffering is over for the people of Charleston and those affected by the horrific violence. The funerals for the shooting victims will begin this week, and South Carolina has already passed a temporary ordinance banning any form of protest at the funeral services.

“The people’s House continues to keep the people of Charleston in our prayers as they mourn such senseless loss,” [Speaker of the House John] Boehner said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Senseless” is definitely a word to describe the shooting. Though it’s not definite yet, there’s evidence to indicate the murders were a hate crime. The shooting victims include Clementa C. Pinckney, the pastor of the church and a State Senator; Cynthia Hurd, who managed the Charleston County Public Library System; and Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, who worked as a Speech Therapist at Goose Creek High School in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

President Obama condemned the shooting, noting that America is the only developed country which suffers from the type of mass violence seen in the Charleston shooting. The families of shooting victims have been reportedly organizing prayer circles and coming together in the wake of this unspeakable tragedy. In the wake of the shootings, there have also been debates about banning the use of the Confederate flag, an act some see as long overdue while others view as stamping out the history and culture of Dixieland.

ABC News mentions that the funeral of Sen. Pinckney will be held at 11 a.m. this Friday, at TD Arena on the campus of the College of Charleston, and President Obama will deliver the eulogy. The site goes on to mention that several of the other victims’ funeral arrangements are still being worked out. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has announced that South Carolina will no longer be flying the confederate flag, but some are still angered that it won’t be removed from the Capitol building during Sen. Pinckney’s public viewing.

July 4th is just around the corner. It will be fitting that our state Capitol will soon fly the flags of our country & state, and no others.

— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) June 22, 2015

[Image Credit: foxcarolina.com]