GOP potential presidential candidate Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is expected to announce his candidacy next month, attends the Road to Majority 2015 convention, Saturday June 20, 2015, in Washington.... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president in 2012, called for the immediate removal of the Confederate battle flag from outside the South Carolina Statehouse, scrambling the 2016 GOP presidential contenders into staking a position on a contentious cultural issue. 
 
 Some still steered clear from the sensitive debate, even after the shooting deaths of nine people in a historic African-American church in Charleston further exposed the raw emotions about the flying the flag. 
 
 Many see the Confederate flag as "a symbol of racial hatred," Romney tweeted on Saturday. "Remove it now to honor #Charleston victims." 
 
 The former Massachusetts governor joins President Barack Obama and civil rights leaders in calling for the flag to come down as the nation grapples with Wednesday's murders. The man charged with the crimes, Dylann Storm Roof, held the Confederate flag in a photograph on a website and displayed the flags of defeated white-supremacist governments in Africa on his Facebook page. 
 
 Romney's statement prompted most of the Republican Party's leading presidential contenders to weigh in on flying the Confederate battle flag, although few took a definitive position one way or the other. Many instead expressed personal dislike for the flag, but suggested it was up to the people of South Carolina to decide. 
 
 Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Saturday his position is clear: "In Florida we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged," he said in a statement provided to The Associated Press, referring to his 2001 order to remove the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the historic Old Capitol building. 
 
 "Following a period of mourning there will rightly be a discussion among leaders in the state about how South Carolina should move forward, and I'm confident they will do the right thing," Bush said. 
 
 Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker declined to offer his position. "I think they're going to have a good, healthy debate — and should have a healthy debate in South Carolina amongst officials at the state level," he told reporters after a speech Saturday night in Washington. "I think out of deference, before we have that discussion, we should allow the families of the loved ones to bury their dead." 
 
 South Carolina was the last state to fly the Confederate battle flag from its Capitol dome. A compromise in 2000 moved the flag to a 30-foot flagpole elsewhere on Statehouse grounds, where it has been flying at full staff. 
 
 The debate holds political risks for Republicans eager to win over South Carolina conservatives who support the display of the battle flag on public grounds. The state will host the nation's third presidential primary contest in February, a critical contest in the 2016 race. 
 
 South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of four Republican senators running for president, told CNN he's open to revisiting the decision to use the flag, but it "is a part of who we are." 
 
 Former technology executive Carly Fiorina said Saturday she agrees the flag is a "symbol of racial hatred" yet declined to call for its removal, saying her "personal opinion is not what's relevant here." 
 
 Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the last thing the people of South Carolina need is "people from outside of the state coming in and dictating how they should resolve it," Cruz said in a statement provided to The Associated Press. 
 
 He said he understands both sides of the debate — including those who see the flag as a symbol of "racial oppression and a history of slavery" and "those who want to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the traditions of their states — not the racial oppression, but the historical traditions." 
 
 Ohio Gov. John Kasich said it's ultimately "up to the people of South Carolina to decide, but if I were a citizen of South Carolina I'd be for taking it down." 
 
 Spokesmen for most of the other Republican presidential contenders also either ignored such questions or formally declined to comment. They include Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, businessman Donald Trump and Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio. 
 
 Democrats have been more willing to offer their opinions. 
 
 A White House spokesman said Friday that Obama continues to believe the flag belongs in a museum. Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton has yet to address the issue this week, but in 2007 called for the flag's removal, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in Philadelphia and Lisa Lerer in Washington contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Steve Peoples on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples 
 
 ___ 
 
 This story has been corrected to show that the controversy is over the Confederate battle flag, not the Confederate Stars and Bars. ||||| Mitt Romney, photographed in Davenport, Iowa, on Oct. 29, 2012. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty) 
 
 This post has been updated. 
 
 Mitt Romney, the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nominee, strongly condemned the flying of the Confederate flag on the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol on Saturday, prompting current GOP candidates to weigh in on a subject controversial across the "First in the South" primary state. 
 
 Romney's comments repeating his longtime position came in the wake of a shooting that left nine people dead Wednesday night at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Authorities were working on Saturday to determine whether the man accused of killing the nine African Americans attending a church Bible study was the author of a racist manifesto targeting blacks, Jews and Hispanics that was found on a Web site as part of an ongoing investigation. 
 
 In the wake of the shootings, critics have denounced South Carolina leaders for failing to lower to half staff a Confederate flag flying on State Capitol grounds -- and for its placement near the Capitol at all. The flag has flown atop or next to the Capitol in Columbia, S.C., since 1962. It was removed from atop the Capitol dome in 2000 and now flies at a Civil War memorial next to the Capitol. 
 
 On Saturday, Romney took to Twitter to call the flag "a symbol of racial hatred" and said it should be removed as a tribute to the victims of the shooting. 
 
 Take down the #ConfederateFlag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred. Remove it now to honor #Charleston victims. — Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) June 20, 2015 
 
 Romney first weighed in on the flag as a Republican presidential candidate in 2007, when he said "That's not a flag I recognize." 
 
 "That flag, frankly, is divisive, and it shouldn't be shown," he said during a debate sponsored by CNN. 
 
 The comments sparked outrage among some South Carolina conservatives, a key voting bloc in the Palmetto State. In protest, a group called the Americans for the Preservation of American Culture ran several radio ads attacking Romney for not supporting the state's heritage. Ultimately, Romney placed fourth in the South Carolina primary. 
 
 But Romney restated his opposition to the flag in 2012, when he won the GOP nomination. While he took a pass on running for president yet again in 2016, Rommey remains a widely influential figure in the Republican Party. He hosted a summit for former top donors two weeks ago that was attended by several presidential candidates or their representatives. 
 
 His comments Saturday came amid the struggle by several candidates to articulate whether or not the flag should remain in place -- and whether the motives of the church shooter were racist. 
 
 Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is expected to launch a presidential campaign soon, said in a statement Saturday that the flag issue "is up to the people of South Carolina to decide, but if I were a citizen of South Carolina I'd be for taking it down." 
 
 Former Florida governor Jeb Bush said in a statement that "My position on how to address the Confederate flag is clear. In Florida we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged." 
 
 In 2001, Bush ordered the removal of the Confederate flag from the Florida State Capitol, where it had flown since 1978. 
 
 But Bush's statement didn't explicitly call on South Carolina to do the same: "This is obviously a very sensitive time in South Carolina and our prayers are with the families, the AME church community and the entire state. Following a period of mourning there will rightly be a discussion among leaders in the state about how South Carolina should move forward, and I'm confident they will do the right thing." 
 
 Late Friday, Bush told a Tampa Republican fundraiser that "It breaks my heart that somebody, a racist, would do the things he did" in Charleston. 
 
 In Miami, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Saturday that it is up to the people of South Carolina, not "outsiders," to decide whether to remove the Confederate flag. 
 
 "This is an issue that they should debate and work through and not have a bunch of outsiders going in and telling them what to do," he told reporters. 
 
 In his most expansive remarks on the deadly mass shooting, Rubio said the white man charged with the killings "carried out an act motivated by racial hatred." 
 
 "It's an atrocity. It's a horrifying instance," he added. 
 
 Rubio said he now supports Bush's decision to remove the Confederate flag from the Florida capitol and place it in a museum. But as a state legislator, Rubio co-sponsored a war monuments preservation bill that would have preserved the Confederate flag's placement on Capitol grounds. 
 
 Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), in an interview with The Washington Post, said Saturday that decisions about the flag are for South Carolina to decide, but that he understands "both sides" of the debate. 
 
 “Both those who see a history of racial oppression and a history of slavery, which is the original sin of our nation, and we fought a bloody civil war to expunge that sin," he said while campaigning in Iowa. 
 
 But, he added: "I also understand those who want to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the traditions of their states, not the racial oppression, but the historical traditions and I think often this issue is used as a wedge to try to divide people." 
 
 In Philadelphia, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is poised to launch a GOP presidential campaign, began a speech on Saturday by asking for a moment of silence in memory "of those nine lives" killed in Charleston. As he watched media coverage from South Carolina, he said he was struck by how many "family and friends were already talking about forgiveness." 
 
 Later in a statement, Walker said that "The horrific crime committed on Wednesday in Charleston was done by a racist and evil man. I condemn both his acts and his beliefs." 
 
 He added later that "The placement of a Confederate flag on the Capitol grounds is a state issue and I fully expect the leaders of South Carolina to debate this but the conversation should wait until after the families have had a chance to bury and mourn their loved ones." 
 
 Carly Fiorina, the former corporate executive also running for president, didn't mention the shooting during a 20-minute speech Saturday at a Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington. Asked about Romney's comments after her speech, she told reporters "personally I agree with him but I believe it's up to the people of South Carolina." 
 
 A spokesman for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he had no comment. 
 
 On Friday, former Texas governor Rick Perry referred to the shooting as an "accident" -- with campaign aides quickly saying that he meant "incident." His slip of the tongue in an interview sparked a social media backlash and immediately invited comparisons to his so-called "oops" moment during a 2011 debate, when he couldn't remember the three federal agencies he wanted to eliminate as president. 
 
 Perry said during the interview with Newsmax that he would be open to taking down the flag in South Carolina, saying "maybe there's a good conversation that needs to be had." 
 
 But Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who is also a GOP presidential candidate, dismissed questions about removing the flag when asked on Friday, telling CNN that "We're not going to give this a guy an excuse about a book he might have read or a movie he watched or a song he listened to or a symbol out anywhere. It's him ... not the flag." 
 
 The senator said in a statement Saturday that "There can be no doubt" that the shooting was racially motivated. 
 
 "At an appropriate time, we will move forward to have a discussion on a variety of fronts about what will make us stronger as a nation and what solutions need to be found to achieve that goal. But now, please join me in continuing to pray for the victims, for the citizens of Charleston, of my home state, and of our nation." 
 
 Jenna Johnson in Philadelphia; Sean Sullivan in Miami; Vanessa Williams in Washington; Katie Zezima in Johnston, Iowa; and Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune contributed to this report. ||||| 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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 "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 ||||| 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.
– Mitt Romney has long been vocal about his distaste for the Confederate flag flying on South Carolina Capitol grounds, saying in a 2007 presidential debate, "That's not a flag I recognize. That flag, frankly, is divisive, and it shouldn't be shown." He refueled that fire Saturday when he tweeted in response to the Charleston church shootings, writing, "Take down the #ConfederateFlag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred. Remove it now to honor #Charleston victims." Other Republican POTUS contenders are now offering their own take, per the AP and the Washington Post.: South Carolina's own Sen. Lindsey Graham insists the flag "is a part of who we are" and that we shouldn't be blaming what happened in Charleston on it: "We're not going to give this a guy an excuse … . It's him … not the flag." Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says via a statement, "In Florida we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged," but "following a period of mourning there will rightly be a discussion among leaders in the state about how South Carolina should move forward, and I'm confident they will do the right thing." One person who wants to table the discussion: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who says, "I fully expect the leaders of South Carolina to debate this, but the conversation should wait until after the families have had a chance to bury and mourn their loved ones." Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is trying to see both sides, saying he understands "those who see a history of racial oppression and a history of slavery" embedded in the flag, but that he also gets "those who want to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the traditions of their states, not the racial oppression." Sen. Marco Rubio, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, and expected presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich are taking a non-interventionist approach (though Fiorina and Kasich say they agree personally with taking the flag down), stating it's up to the people of South Carolina to decide what to do—not "outsiders," as Rubio puts it. Still silent on the matter: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rand Paul, and the latest GOP contender, a surprisingly quiet Donald Trump.