A Confederate flag supporter runs across South Carolina Capitol steps during a National Action Network press conference on Monday. Though opponents and supporters of the Confederate flag clashed outside the Statehouse, the Senate voted to remove it. 
 
 COLUMBIA — Nineteen days after a white gunman killed the pastor and eight parishioners at Charleston’s historic black Emanuel AME Church, South Carolina’s Senate voted to remove the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds. 
 
 Online For a tally of the votes on Confederate flag issues, go to postandcourier.com/flag-votes. To stay up-to-date on South Carolina politics, go to palmettopolitics.com or download the Palmetto Politics app for iOS or Android. POLL: Based on Monday’s events, do you think the Legislature will decide to remove the Confederate battle flag from the S.C. Statehouse grounds? Go to postandcourier.com/polls to vote. 
 
 The 37-3 vote on second reading Monday easily surpassed the two-thirds majority needed during a third and final vote that would send the measure to the House of Representatives on Tuesday. 
 
 With Gov. Nikki Haley on the record saying the flag needs to come down, a two-thirds vote in the House would consign the battle flag, which has flown from a 30-foot pole as part of a Confederate Soldier Monument in front of the Statehouse steps since 2000, to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. The vote followed weeks of protests and growing demands by politicians, civil rights activists, community leaders and businesses to “Take It Down,” saying it symbolized the racism that allegedly led to the mass killing at the church. 
 
 “That issue had to be resolved,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, who voted to remove it. “It had been festering for a long, long time.” 
 
 Haley lauded the Senate’s fast response in a written statement. 
 
 “The South Carolina Senate today rose to this historic occasion, with a large majority of members from both parties coming together in the spirit of unity and healing that is binding our state back together and moving us forward in the right direction,” Haley said. “I applaud the Senate’s decisive action, look forward to the Senate giving the bill third reading in the morning, and ask that the House act swiftly and follow the Senate’s lead.” 
 
 Voting against the removal were Sens. Lee Bright, Danny Verdin, and Harvey Peeler, all Upstate Republicans. 
 
 “To remove the flag from the Statehouse grounds and thinking it would change history would be like removing a tattoo from the corpse of a loved one and thinking that would change a loved one’s obituary,” said Peeler, the Senate majority leader, during the often emotional debate preceding the vote. 
 
 Afterward, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who watched from the gallery, said the vote to remove the flag boosts the legacy of Haley and Charleston Mayor Joe Riley. Riley has long advocated removing the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, while Haley reversed her position after the killings. Among those slain was state Sen. and pastor Clementa Pinckney, with whom Haley served in the Legislature. 
 
 The measure seeks to undo a compromise that moved the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol dome to the monument 15 years ago. The flag was placed atop the dome in the early 1960s for the Civil War centennial and, according to accounts at the time, as a show of the state’s defiance to integration and the civil rights movement. 
 
 The measure could be signed into law by the end of the week if it makes it through the House without changes. Debate in the House will likely take place on Wednesday, if lawmakers can bypass the committee process, said Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia. 
 
 However, there are several proposals floating around in the House, including replacing the battle flag with Bonnie Blue or even flying the flag on the grounds of the state museum, which houses the Confederate Relic Room. The amendments will make for more nail-biting moments for flag opponents in the House, Smith said. 
 
 For many, the flag represents the South’s heritage and the bravery of the soldiers who fought for the Confederacy, leading to resistance on efforts to have it removed from the dome and now the monument. Yet, demands to take it down intensified after the nine churchgoers were slain during Bible study. Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old Midlands man who often posed in pictures with the rebel flag, has been charged with murder in the killings. According to authorities, Roof, an avowed white supremacist, wanted to start a race war. 
 
 Pinckney’s Senate seatmate, Vincent Sheheen, D-Camden, lamented that nine people had to die for the state to tackle the issue of the flag, but said he was glad the state was at least making progress. Sheheen called for the flag’s removal in October, during his failed gubernatorial challenge against Haley. 
 
 At the time the flag was moved from the dome to the monument, legislators included a clause requiring a two-thirds vote to do anything with any of the Statehouse’s monuments, including the flag. While the measure could run into resistance in the House, a poll of the state’s lawmakers by the Post and Courier indicates it has enough support to pass the House by the required margin. 
 
 Earlier, protesters on both sides of the flag debate gathered again outside the Statehouse under the watchful eye of a large than normal police and security presence. 
 
 William Cheek, of Ninety-Six, was among a dozen people holding Confederate flags in a show of support for keeping the flag in place. 
 
 “I’m standing up for what’s right,” he said, calling the flag a symbol of history, heritage, honor and love. “My forefathers fought under this flag,” he said. “They had every right to.” 
 
 Rev. Nelson Rivers III of the National Action Network, said the great wrong in the debate is that it took the deaths of nine people at Emanuel AME Church for the flag issue to come to a head. 
 
 “It shouldn’t have taken the blood of Clementa and eight other people to get the state and the General Assembly to do what they should have done 15 years ago,” he said. 
 
 Reach Cynthia Roldan at 708-5891. ||||| South Carolina lawmakers considered legislation Monday to remove the Confederate battle flag from state house grounds. (Reuters) 
 
 South Carolina lawmakers are having an incredibly honest debate about race relations and the Confederate flag's place in their state right now. 
 
 On Monday morning, the state Senate gaveled into session to debate a bill to take the Confederate flag off state house grounds. It's the first of several steps toward lowering the flag, which remained flying high after a white man killed nine black church members in a racially motivated shooting in Charleston. 
 
 South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) called for the flag's removal days after the June 17 killings, and a wave of Republican lawmakers inside South Carolina and outside the state have joined her. 
 
 [The looming demise of the Confederate flag, in 7 steps] 
 
 But a 2000 compromise to move the flag from the actual dome of the capitol to a Confederate war memorial on state grounds nearby means only the state legislature can remove the flag. 
 
 Despite the high threshold for removal (two-thirds of the legislature) and previously failed attempts to take the flag down, this time around appears to be different. The Charleston Post and Courier reports that lawmakers have the two-thirds majority they need to lower the flag, and it all could be done as soon as Thursday. The Senate overwhelmingly voted in preliminary votes Monday to take down the flag and is expected to make it final Tuesday. 
 
 So with much of the legislative contention out of the way, lawmakers spent their Monday reflecting on the flag's place in the state's history — and just how much healing on race the state has left to do. The debate was dominated early on by supporters of removing the flag. 
 
 Here are six themes that are developing from the conversation, as told through the powerful words of South Carolina's lawmakers. 
 
 1. Racism is still alive and well in South Carolina 
 
 State Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D), who lost to Haley in both the 2010 and 2014 governor's races, has been an advocate for taking down the flag for several years now, and he introduced the bill this week that could finally do so. 
 
 But Sheheen wasn't always on the side of public opinion. He was often pushing against it. He recalled a “heated debate” one year ago when he publicly campaigned outside the Confederate war memorial to take down the flag. A white woman walked up to him and said: “All you care about is black people and Mexicans.” 
 
 “The story made me look a little more carefully at what goes on in our state,” he said. 
 
 More recently, Sheheen said he got an e-mail from a constituent shortly after the Charleston shootings. Sheheen read it from the floor: 
 
 “It's not about the Confederate flag. It's about the entitlement given to minorities, and folks are getting tired of it.” 
 
 Sheheen paused for effect. Then he used that e-mail to make the core of his argument for taking down the flag: 
 
 “That's days after nine people are murdered because their skin was dark. What happened, happened in our state. There's a quiet bigotry that still exists, and if those of us who are white don't say anything … then we're part of the problem.” 
 
 The flag, he said, “is one small step that reduces the culture of division.” 
 
 The controversy over the fate of the Confederate battle flag flying in South Carolina goes to the state's legislators this week. (Reuters) 
 
 2. The flag doesn't mean the same thing to everyone 
 
 During the Civil War, South Carolina was 57 percent black, noted state Sen. Darrell Jackson (D), who is African American. Those people — and their descendants — did not view the flag with the same reverence as many white South Carolinians do. Keeping it on state grounds is projecting only one vision of the Confederacy onto everyone else in this state, he argued. 
 
 “When I see a Confederate soldier, I don't get goosebumps and feel all warm and fuzzy,” Jackson said. “I respect the fact that you do. All I'm saying is, you can't force all of us to have a passion that some of you have about certain things.” 
 
 3. The flag was put up for the wrong reason 
 
 Republican state Sen. Larry Martin said he's heard from a lot of people who are opposed to taking it down, because if that happens, what will go next? Will Confederate buildings and roads be forced to be renamed? 
 
 That's the wrong way of looking at it, said Martin. South Carolinians have to be honest with themselves that the Confederate flag was hoisted over the capitol dome in the 1960s to honor the Civil War's 100th anniversary. It stayed up, though, for a much darker reason: To resist the civil rights movement. 
 
 “I remember well the adults in my life and what they had to say about [public school integration],” said Martin, who is white. “And it wasn't pleasant. You couldn't repeat it today, about what was being said about the fact that we were going to be going to school with black children. And the adults in my life didn't want to hear it. In my view, that's the reason the flag stayed up.” 
 
 4. The Charleston shootings changed everything 
 
 Martin didn't always see things this way. Before the Charleston shootings, he said he rarely thought twice about the implications of flying the flag on state house grounds. Now, he sees everything differently, he said. 
 
 “There is a huge difference between a [Confederate] monument and a flag fluttering in the wind on state grounds,” he said. “Until [the Charleston shootings] that so devastated our state and the country, I don't think I'd ever really appreciated that. 
 
 “To see that thing fluttering out there in a way that sort of gives some official status to it on behalf of the people of South Carolina, that doesn't represent all of the people of South Carolina, and we need to remember that.” 
 
 He added: “It isn't part of our future. It's part of our past. And I think we need to leave it at that.” 
 
 Other equally conservative lawmakers echoed Martin's sentiments. 
 
 "I'm going to vote to relocate it, to pursue peace and mutual affection like Paul preaches us to do," said Sen. George Campsen (R), whose district includes Charleston. His message was heavy on Biblical references as reasons to take down the flag. "I hate that it took a tragedy like this for me to really, fully understand it. But I do fully understand it, and it is utterly amazing. It is one of the greatest testimonies of Christian faith that I have experienced in my life." 
 
 5. The flag is being unfairly targeted for one man's actions 
 
 The morning was dominated by lawmakers urging the flag to be taken down. But after lawmakers recessed to lunch with members of their parties, opponents started speaking out. 
 
 State Sen. Lee Bright, a Republican, made the fundamentally opposite argument from those above: It's not pervasive racism that's South Carolina's problem, he said. It's one person with a gun that was South Carolina's problem. 
 
 “I am more against taking it down in this environment than any other time," he said. "We're placing blame on what one deranged lunatic did on people who hold their southern heritage high, and I don't think that's fair.” 
 
 Bright said he thinks most South Carolinians still want the flag to stay up, and he called for a statewide referendum on the flag's future that his colleagues rejected. Bright also got off track a bit by calling for lawmakers to try to oppose the Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same sex marriage, decrying the White House being lit up in rainbow colors an "abomination." 
 
 [Did Republicans jump the gun on the Confederate flag?] 
 
 6. Taking down the flag isn't going to change anything about South Carolina's past 
 
 South Carolina's Senate Majority leader, Harvey Peeler (R), is probably the highest-profile opponent of taking down the flag. On Monday, he said removing one flag couldn't erase South Carolina's ties to the Confederacy. 
 
 "To remove the flag from the statehouse grounds and thinking it would change history would be like removing a tattoo from the corpse of a loved one and thinking that would change a loved one’s obituary," he said. 
 
 But most of his colleagues disagreed. By the end of the day, the Senate voted 37-3 on a preliminary vote to take down the flag, while soundly rejecting amendments to put the question to a statewide referendum or fly it just on Confederate Memorial day. They need a third vote Tuesday to make it official and pass the responsibility to South Carolina's House. 
 
 Judging by the strong words from South Carolina lawmakers on both sides of the aisle we heard Monday, the flag would indeed appear likely to come down. ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley calls for the removal of the Confederate rebel flag from state house grounds. VPC 
 
 Two women hold posters against the Confederate flag during a protest rally in Columbia, S.C., June 20, 2015. (Photo: Mladen Antonov, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 A group of political and religious leaders from Charleston, S.C., are headed to Columbia, the state's capital, to call on lawmakers to remove the Confederate battle flag flying on the State House grounds. But even if they manage to gain the needed votes, it may be months before the flag actually comes down. 
 
 Across the nation there has been a growing outcry for the flag to be removed after nine black worshipers were killed by a gunman with allegedly white supremacist views during a prayer meeting at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston last week. 
 
 The push to take down the flag is the latest chapter in a heated debate that has roiled the Palmetto State for more than 50 years, and several political obstacles make any quick resolution of the argument unlikely. 
 
 Prominent voices within South Carolina have joined in the call for the flag's removal, including Gov. Nikki Haley. "It's time to move the flag from the Capitol grounds," she said during a press conference Monday. 
 
 House Speaker Jay Lucas on Monday called for a "swift resolution of this issue." 
 
 The state legislature is set to meet Tuesday to discuss the budget, and officials, including Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley and local State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, have called on the legislators to stay in session and vote on removing the flag. They plan to continue that call at a rally in front of the State House at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. 
 
 The Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III of the National Action Network is calling for the flag to be taken down before State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who also was chief pastor of Emanuel AME and who was killed in the attack, lies in state at the South Carolina Capitol on Wednesday. 
 
 Winning a vote to remove the flag will be no small feat, however, and it almost certainly won't happen by Wednesday. 
 
 As part of a deal reached 15 years ago, two-thirds of both chambers of the state legislature must vote to remove the flag. 
 
 Kimpson, a Democrat, says there is a "growing chorus" of members interested in taking up a debate on the flag during Tuesday's session, but even to bring the matter up for discussion would require the support of two-thirds of the legislators. 
 
 What's more, even if lawmakers agree to discuss a bill calling for the flag's removal, procedural hurdles will take time to overcome, State Rep. Todd Rutherford, also a Democrat, says. The bill would have to clear the judiciary committee and then come back to the floor for debate, Rutherford says. 
 
 "If I had to set a deadline, I'd say about August 1st, hopefully before September, but the House is going to work as soon as possible to get it done," he told WLTX-TV. 
 
 Sen. Larry Martin, a Republican who heads the state Senate Judiciary Committee, said he favors waiting until at least next week to take on the matter. 
 
 Sen. Mike Fair, also a Republican, favors holding off until January for a debate, saying the push for a vote now is "almost being opportunistic." 
 
 Haley said that if lawmakers don't take up the the flag debate this summer, she will call them back for a special session. 
 
 "There will be a time for discussion and debate. The time for action is coming soon," Haley said. 
 
 Haley is not the first South Carolina governor to call for the flag's removal from government buildings. In 1996, then-governor David Beasley pushed to have it removed from the Capitol dome, only to back off and then be driven from office two years later in the political blowback. 
 
 The Confederate battle flag first flew atop the State House in 1962 as part of the Civil War centennial commemoration, where it remained, despite persistent protest from civil rights groups, until 2000. That year a political compromise led to the flag being removed from the Capitol Dome and another raised on a 30-foot flagpole at the Confederate Soldier Monument in front of the State House. 
 
 Many South Carolinians, such as Leland Summers, the head of the state's chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, say the flag is about history and heritage, not hate. 
 
 "Do not associate the cowardly actions of a racist to our Confederate Banner," Summers said in a statement. "There is absolutely no link between The Charleston Massacre and The Confederate Memorial Banner. Don't try to create one." 
 
 For others the flag is a symbol of the state's legacy of slavery and racial oppression. 
 
 Rivers calls it a symbol of "hate and division." 
 
 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING South Carolina govenor to address the Confederate flag issue | 0:19 South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to call for the Confederate flag to be removed from the state capitol. Kinfay Moroti/USA Today 1 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Large crowd gathers as Emanuel AME church holds service | 1:44 A message of hope was spread through Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on Sunday. The church held its first worship service since a shooting that left 9 people dead. Even those that had to worship outside were happy to be there. WLTX TV 2 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Church's message of hope rings out in Charleston | 1:10 Members of Mother Emanuel AME Church return to service Sunday in Charleston, South Carolina. Thousands of people listened to the service outside the church. Kinfay Moroti/ USA TODAY 3 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING 1st Church Service Held after Bible Study Attack | 2:05 Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church opened its doors on Sunday for the first time following a deadly shooting that killed 9 church members. (June 21) AP 4 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Raw: Bells Toll in Honor of Slain Church Members | 1:55 Church bells rang throughout Charleston in remembrance of nine people who were slain during a Bible study. (June 21) AP 5 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING 1st Church Service Held After SC Shooting | 1:42 Members of a historic black church worshiped at their sanctuary Sunday for the first time since a gunman opened fire at a Bible study, killing nine people. (June 21) AP 6 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Faith leaders hold interfaith, interracial prayer service | 1:42 A time of mourning after the Charleston church shooting in South Carolina is bringing people together from different races and religions. VPC 7 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Mass killing alludes to Charleston's historic racial strife | 2:34 The mass killing in Charleston, South Carolina alludes to the city's historic racial strife. Local resident share their thoughts on Charleston's past, present and future. VIDEO BY KINFAY MOROTI/USA TODAY 8 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Roof's purported manifesto under investigation | 1:04 A manifesto purportedly written by accused killer Dylann Roof could explain why Charleston was targeted in the church shootings and what motivated the deadly attack. VPC 9 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston shooting victims were loved, respected | 1:12 Loved ones share their memories of those killed in the shooting at Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church as well as their thoughts on the accused killer Dylann Roof. VPC 10 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston unites to remember church shooting victims | 1:21 Charleston residents joined hands and voices at the city's first official vigil following the murders of nine people at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. WCNC 11 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Armed posses to protect black churches in Arizona | 1:12 Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will send armed posses of volunteers to 60 black churches around Phoenix, following the deadly attack on a historically black church in Charleston. Arpaio's office has previously been accused of racial profiling. VPC 12 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston shooting shines spotlight on Confederate flag | 1:29 The murders of nine African Americans inside a historically black Charleston church have reignited calls to take down the Confederate flag outside South Carolina's Statehouse, but the historic symbol won't come down easily, if it does at all. VPC 13 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Finding forgiveness in Charleston | 2:20 Charleston residents share thier thoughts Friday on forgiving Dylan Roof, who has been charged with nine counts of murder in the shooting at Emanuel AME Church is Charleston, South Carolina. Video by Kinfay Moroti/USA TODAY 14 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING 'I forgive you.' Charleston victims' families send powerful message | 1:34 Family members of the nine victims killed in a shooting at a Charleston church confronted the suspect Dylann Roof in court Friday, sending a powerful and emotional message. VPC 15 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston mayor: Death penalty likely to be sought | 0:36 Charleston, South Carolina Mayor Joseph Riley said although he doesn't condone the death penalty, he thinks prosecutors will seek it in the Emanuel AME church shooting. VPC 16 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Keeping churches safe: Pastors seek help after shooting | 1:08 In the aftermath of the Charleston, S.C. shooting, a North Carolina police department is offering special training sessions for religious leaders who want to know how to bette keep their congregations safe. VPC 17 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Images of Dylann Roof suggest racist ideology | 0:56 The 21-year-old man accused of killing nine people as they worshiped at a Charleston, South Carolina church has a criminal past. Dylann Roof was arrested twice this year and images of him posted to social media seem to show a racist ideology. WCNC 18 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Shooting victims' families to Dylann Roof: We 'forgive you' | 7:04 Dylann Roof, the suspect in the mass shootings that killed nine at a Charleston church, appeared in court for his bond hearing Friday. Family members of the victims addressed Roof emotionally, and said that they "forgive" him and "hate won't win." USA TODAY 19 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston youths coping with aftermath of church shooting | 1:18 Families talk about the challenges of explaining the Charleston church shooting to young children. VPC 20 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Dylann Roof led from station in bullet proof vest | 0:43 Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old accused of shooting and killing nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC is led out of the Shelby, NC Police Dept. in handcuffs and a bullet proof vest. He was caught in Shelby with the help of a tip. WCNC 21 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Memorial grows in Charleston one day after shooting | 0:40 A memorial for the nine people who died at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston when a gunman opened fire on a prayer service is growing, as people gather to pay tribute to the dead while focusing on healing. VPC 22 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Jon Stewart skips jokes, gets serious about Charleston | 1:37 Jon Stewart's latest 'Daily Show' appearance was a somber one — in the wake of the tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina, where Dylann Roof is accused of killing six women and three men Wednesday, Stewart decided to forego his usual jokes completely. USA TODAY 23 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Florist's tip led to capture of Charleston shooting suspect | 1:49 The suspect in the mass shotting at a Charleston church, Dylann Storm Roof, was captured in Shelby, North Carolina, thanks to a tip from a local florist. WCNC-TV 24 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Nighttime images of a church shattered by shooting | 0:39 Night at Emanuel A.M.E Church in Charleston, South Carolina is filled with despair, remembrance and small flames of hope, Video by Kinfay Moroti/USA TODAY USA TODAY 25 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Hundreds gather at Charleston church to pay respect | 1:48 Members of a neighboring church attended a special service before walking over to the Emanuel AME church to pay their respect to the victims lost in the mass shooting. WCNC 26 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston shooting victims include pastors, recent grad | 4:52 The community of Charleston, SC is coming together to remember the lives of those killed inside the Emanuel AME Church. VPC 27 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston residents struggle to understand shooting | 1:08 Scenes from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Thursday in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed in a mass shooting Wednesday during service. Kinfay Moroti, Gannett 28 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Historic black churches rethink security after shooting | 1:49 On the heels of the Charleston, South Carolina church massacre, historic black churches in Atlanta not only grieve, but rethink security measures. WXIA-TV, Atlanta 29 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING A 'heartbroken' Charleston gathers to mourn shooting victims | 0:57 Hundreds gathered to pay tribute to the nine victims of a church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. VPC 30 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Suspect arrested in Charleston church shooting | 0:39 Charleston authorities have arrested 21-year-old Dylann Roof in connection with the killing of nine people at Emanuel AME church. Roof was arrested during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina. VPC 31 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Raw: See people praying, hugging outside of SC church | 0:55 The community of Charleston, South Carolina is coming together to mourn the victim's of the Emaneul AME Church shooting. USA TODAY 32 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Pinckney colleague: 'Biggest heart you could imagine' | 1:25 South Carolina state senators became emotional during Thursday's session as they reflected on slain state Senator Clementa Pinckney, who was among those killed in the Charleston church shooting. His chair was draped in black fabric in his absence. VPC 33 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Obama: I've made statements like this 'too many times' | 2:20 President Obama spoke about the tragedy at a church in Charleston, S.C., saying he's made a speech like this too often. The president says he knew the pastor who was killed at the Emanuel AME church, where 9 people were killed while praying. VPC 34 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Gov. Haley cries: 'Heart and soul of S.C. was broken' | 1:25 South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley got emotional while speaking at a press conference about the massacre at Emanuel AME church in Charleston where a gunman opened fire at a prayer service killing nine people. WLTX 35 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Attorney General: Charleston shooting 'barbaric' | 1:24 Speaking at a press conference, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the shooting that killed 9 people at Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina both "barbaric" and "heartless." VPC 36 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Slain pastor Clementa Pinckney will be 'sorely missed' | 1:07 Pastor Clementa Pinckney is among those killed in a shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. The 41-year-old was also serving as a South Carolina state senator at the time of his death. WLTX-TV 37 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston police: 'We will catch' church shooter | 1:12 Chief Gregory Mullen emphasized his department's commitment to catching the man suspected of killing nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Police confirm they currently do not know where the suspect is. WLTX TV 38 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Pastor killed in church massacre was a 'leader' | 1:01 After news of South Carolina state senator and pastor Clementa Pinckney's death at the hands of a gunman at his Charleston church, fellow State Senator Kevin Johnson said Pinckney had a passion for the less fortunate in his state. WLTX 39 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING 9 dead in Charleston after church massacre | 0:58 Nine people, including state senator Celementa Pinckney, were killed during a shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Pinckney was also the pastor of the church. Police say the shooting was a hate crime. VPC 40 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Sen. killed in church wanted 'people to feel safe' there | 0:30 The S.C. state Senator and pastor killed when a gunman shot up his Charleston church was an advocate for safe churches. In the state legislator in 2013, Sen. Clementa Pinckney supported a bill that would expand penalties for church vandalism. WLTX 41 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Police: Charleston church shooting was a hate crime | 0:54 Authorities are looking for a young white man in connection to the massacre at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC where a gunman opened fire, killing nine people. WLTX TV 42 of 42 Last VideoNext Video South Carolina govenor to address the Confederate flag issue 
 
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 Church's message of hope rings out in Charleston 
 
 1st Church Service Held after Bible Study Attack 
 
 Raw: Bells Toll in Honor of Slain Church Members 
 
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 Charleston shooting victims were loved, respected 
 
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 Armed posses to protect black churches in Arizona 
 
 Charleston shooting shines spotlight on Confederate flag 
 
 Finding forgiveness in Charleston 
 
 'I forgive you.' Charleston victims' families send powerful message 
 
 Charleston mayor: Death penalty likely to be sought 
 
 Keeping churches safe: Pastors seek help after shooting 
 
 Images of Dylann Roof suggest racist ideology 
 
 Shooting victims' families to Dylann Roof: We 'forgive you' 
 
 Charleston youths coping with aftermath of church shooting 
 
 Dylann Roof led from station in bullet proof vest 
 
 Memorial grows in Charleston one day after shooting 
 
 Jon Stewart skips jokes, gets serious about Charleston 
 
 Florist's tip led to capture of Charleston shooting suspect 
 
 Nighttime images of a church shattered by shooting 
 
 Hundreds gather at Charleston church to pay respect 
 
 Charleston shooting victims include pastors, recent grad 
 
 Charleston residents struggle to understand shooting 
 
 Historic black churches rethink security after shooting 
 
 A 'heartbroken' Charleston gathers to mourn shooting victims 
 
 Suspect arrested in Charleston church shooting 
 
 Raw: See people praying, hugging outside of SC church 
 
 Pinckney colleague: 'Biggest heart you could imagine' 
 
 Obama: I've made statements like this 'too many times' 
 
 Gov. Haley cries: 'Heart and soul of S.C. was broken' 
 
 Attorney General: Charleston shooting 'barbaric' 
 
 Slain pastor Clementa Pinckney will be 'sorely missed' 
 
 Charleston police: 'We will catch' church shooter 
 
 Pastor killed in church massacre was a 'leader' 
 
 9 dead in Charleston after church massacre 
 
 Sen. killed in church wanted 'people to feel safe' there 
 
 Police: Charleston church shooting was a hate crime 
 
 "The flag is the symbol of the worst of South Carolina's past," he said. 
 
 Haley said she is not interested in picking winners and losers in the debate, but said the time has come for the flag on the State House grounds to go. 
 
 "For those who wish to show their respect for the flag on their private property, no one will stand in your way," Haley said. "But the State House is different. And the events of the past week call upon all of us to look at this in a different way." 
 
 William Cummings reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY; Tony Santaella, WLTX-TV, Columbia, S.C.; and The Associated Press 
 
 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE In wake of the shooting deaths of nine people inside a historic South Carolina church, some major department stores announced they would stop carrying the controversial Confederate Flag. Buzz60's Leigh Scheps (@LeighTVReporter) reports. Buzz60 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1N2Xlw5 ||||| JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A top Mississippi lawmaker said Monday that the Confederate battle emblem is offensive and needs to be removed from the state flag. 
 
 House Speaker Philip Gunn became the first top-tier Republican to call for a change in the flag, which has had the Confederate symbol in the upper left corner since Reconstruction. 
 
 "We must always remember our past, but that does not mean we must let it define us," Gunn, a leader in his local Baptist church, said in a statement. "As a Christian, I believe our state's flag has become a point of offense that needs to be removed. We need to begin having conversations about changing Mississippi's flag." 
 
 Mississippi and Tennessee officials are grappling with whether to retain Old South symbols, even as South Carolina leaders are pushing to remove a Confederate battle flag that flies outside the statehouse there. 
 
 Mississippi voters decided by a 2-to-1 margin in 2001 to keep the state flag that has been used since 1894. It features the Confederate battle emblem — a blue X with 13 stars, over a red field. 
 
 Republican Gov. Phil Bryant on Monday repeated his long-held position that the state should keep the flag as is. 
 
 "A vast majority of Mississippians voted to keep the state's flag, and I don't believe the Mississippi Legislature will act to supersede the will of the people on this issue," Bryant said in a statement. 
 
 Democratic Sen. Kenny Wayne Jones of Canton, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said the Confederate emblem is a "symbol of hatred" often associated with racial violence. Jones said the flag represents the power structure's resistance to change during the 1960s and '70s, when civil rights activists were pushing to dismantle segregation and expand voting rights. 
 
 "We should be constantly re-examining these types of stereotypes that label our state for what it used to be a long time ago," Jones told The Associated Press. 
 
 At the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville, a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and an early Ku Klux Klan leader, has sat in an alcove outside the Senate chamber for decades. 
 
 Democratic and Republican leaders are calling for the bust to be removed. Craig Fitzhugh, the state House Democratic leader, said it should go to the archives or a museum and be replaced in the Capitol by a statue of Lois DeBerry, an African-American who became the first female speaker pro tempore of the Tennessee House. Women and minorities are underrepresented in government symbols, Fitzhugh wrote. 
 
 "We need to revisit what we have displayed in the Capitol so that it better represents a Tennessee for all of us," he wrote Monday. 
 
 Since the 2001 Mississippi election, bills that proposed changing the flag have gained no traction, with legislators saying voters settled the issue. 
 
 The massacre of nine worshippers at a black church in South Carolina last week renewed public debate about the Confederate battle flag. The white suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, appeared in photos holding the banner. 
 
 Russell Moore, a Mississippi native who serves as president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote in his blog Friday that the Confederate flag — including the emblem on the Mississippi state flag — should be retired. He said its connection with the "great evil" of slavery makes it incompatible with Christianity. 
 
 "White Christians ought to think about what that flag says to our African-American brothers and sisters in Christ, especially in the aftermath of yet another act of white supremacist terrorism against them," Moore wrote. "The gospel frees us from scrapping for our 'heritage' at the expense of others." 
 
 ____ 
 
 Galofaro reported from Louisville, Kentucky. ||||| Confederate flags stand next to the headstone's of Confederate States of America (CSA) soldiers at the Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston | Getty GOP leaders yank bill after Confederate flag fracas Afterward, chaos breaks out on the House floor. 
 
 Just as the debate over the Confederate flag wrapped up in South Carolina, it has unexpectedly exploded in Washington, forcing the contentious racial and regional fight onto center stage in the Republican-controlled House. 
 
 In the course of one day, House Republicans had to cancel a vote on a spending bill because Southern Republicans objected to language that would ban Confederate flags from federal cemeteries. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called for “adults here in the Congress to actually sit down and have a conversation” about the flag in the coming weeks. 
 
 Instead of a discussion, Boehner got a brawl. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) forced a series of contentious votes on whether Congress should remove Confederate symbols from the Capitol. The votes failed on procedural grounds, and were referred to a House committee as a way of slowing the process. But the floor was filled with shouts and screams from both parties. 
 
 “This is about our morals,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) said after a series of votes on the issue. “About who we are as Americans.” Boehner’s spokesman, Kevin Smith, called the votes that Pelosi forced a “cheap political stunt.” 
 
 Regardless of how the institution got there, Congress now finds itself deeply enmeshed in a debate over race in the midst of a busy legislative stretch. Since last month’s massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, Capitol Hill had managed to sidestep the debate. But that changed in an instant on Thursday. 
 
 This all comes as South Carolina’s Republican Gov. Nikki Haley was due to sign a bill on Thursday that permanently removed the Confederate flag from the grounds of the capitol in Columbia. 
 
 The story of how the debate began in Washington is one of late-night wrangling over spending bills — the wonkiest, but, at times most effective, part of congressional legislating. 
 
 The battle was joined Tuesday night, when Democrats offered a series of amendments to prohibit Confederate flags from being displayed at federal cemeteries, and to stop the U.S. Park Service from doing business with enterprises that sell the flags. These flags are typically displayed alongside the centuries-old tombstones of deceased confederate soldiers. 
 
 “This House now has an opportunity to add its voice to end the promotion of the cruel, racist legacy of the Confederacy,” California Rep. Jared Huffman said in a floor speech before his initial amendment was adopted Tuesday. 
 
 The measures passed by voice vote. 
 
 But quickly, Southern Republicans approached GOP leadership and said they would vote against the Interior spending bill if that language was included. The amendment was offered Wednesday night after whole and partial congressional delegations from Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Alabama and Virginia, among possibly others, related their concerns to GOP leaders. 
 
 “I strongly oppose the inclusion of this amendment, which was slipped into the bill in the dead of night with no debate,” Mississippi Rep. Steven Pallazzo said in a statement. “Congress cannot simply rewrite history and strip the Confederate flag from existence. Members of Congress from New York and California cannot wipe away 150 years of Southern history with sleight-of-hand tactics. I will fight to ensure that this language is not included in any bill signed into law.” 
 
 GOP leaders told appropriators after the last votes early Wednesday evening there were enough complaints from Southern Republicans about the amendments that it was questionable whether they would be able to pass the broader spending bill. 
 
 Republican leaders had little room for error in whipping up majority support for the Interior-EPA spending bill that has been historically contentious. A razor-thin 216-210 vote in June for a House Transportation and Housing and Urban Development spending bill underscored the difficulties of GOP leaders to wrangle enough backing with opposition from fiscal conservatives combining with almost unanimous opposition from Democrats. 
 
 So Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), at the behest of GOP leadership, attempted to turn back the amendment. 
 
 Of course, political winds are blowing heavily against the Confederate flag, so a vote on Calvert’s motion would have been likely to fail. But such a vote would have made lawmakers weigh in on whether the graves of Confederate soldiers should be allowed to be adorned by the Confederate flag. 
 
 Instead, GOP leadership canceled a vote on the Interior bill, eager to save themselves the embarrassment of failing to pass the spending bill. Boehner, who said he supports ridding federal cemeteries of confederate flags, said he wanted to facilitate a discussion on the matter. 
 
 “I actually think it’s time for some adults here in the Congress to actually sit down and have a conversation about how to address this issue,” Boehner said Thursday. “I do not want this to become some political football. It should not. And so I would expect that you’ll see some conversations in the coming days.” 
 
 Several Republicans privately vowed to get the issue resolved, and asserted that Democrats were trying to make Republican lawmakers look like racists. A GOP leadership aide described the Calvert amendment as a technical measure that would “attempt to codify the Obama administration’s own directive to our national cemeteries.” 
 
 But Pelosi pounced. She offered a “privileged motion” — allowing for quick rapid consideration on the floor — that would strip the Capitol of all signs of the Confederate flag, unless it hanged in the office of an individual member. 
 
 House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) responded by forcing a vote on sending the issue to committee, at which point Pelosi and other Democrats broke out in protest, and resorted to casting paper ballots to drag out the debate. 
 
 McCarthy prevailed on that vote, but Republicans know they’ve lost the political battle for now. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said he wants the Southerners who demanded the vote to speak out. 
 
 “We’ve put our heads [out] like a pumpkin on a stick and given [Democrats] a baseball bat,” said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a member of the Appropriations Committee. 
 
 Rachel Bade, Lauren French and Anna Palmer contributed reporting.
– Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the day the last shots of the Civil War were fired and it turned out to be a bad day for symbols of the Confederacy: South Carolina's top lawmakers called for the Confederate battle flag's removal from the state Capitol and Walmart stopped selling items bearing the flag. But wiping those symbols from America may not be so easy. The latest: The National Statuary Hall at the US Capitol is a surprising stronghold of statues of important Confederate figures, with no fewer than eight on display, including Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, reports NBC, which notes that the count doesn't include those who served as Confederate soldiers but are better known for their lives after the war. Each state has two historic figures in the collection and replacements are rare, although Alabama replaced Confederate military officer Jabez Curry with Helen Keller in 2009. Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida each have one Confederate statue in the collection; Mississippi has two. A top GOP lawmaker in Mississippi broke ranks yesterday to call for the Confederate emblem's removal from the state flag, the AP reports. "We must always remember our past, but that does not mean we must let it define us," House Speaker Philip Gunn said in a statement. "As a Christian, I believe our state's flag has become a point of offense that needs to be removed." So what do Americans think? The Hill reports on a poll from the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund that found 21% of Americans support flying the flag at government buildings. When it comes to the flag flying at the state capitol in Columbia, it'll almost certainly fly over the casket of State Sen. Clementa Pinckney when he lies in state there tomorrow, reports USA Today. Though officials plan to bring up the flag in a legislative session today, USA Today explains that the lengthy process requires a few two-thirds votes, a clearing of the judiciary committee, and floor debate. A Democratic state rep predicts Aug. 1 as a feasible deadline; a Republican state senator suggests waiting until 2016 rather than staging an "almost ... opportunistic" vote now. Gov. Nikki Haley has said she'll call a special session if the topic isn't tackled this summer. Fascinating additional reading: The Washington Post takes a look at the subtle ways in which the "Confederacy lives on in the flags of seven Southern states."