Suspect in Charleston church slayings could face hate crime charges: Officials
COLUMBIA, S.C.— The Confederate flag flew high Wednesday outside the South Carolina Statehouse, but a large drape kept mourners from seeing it as they filed past the open casket of a veteran black lawmaker and pastor.
The slayings of state senator Clementa Pinckney and eight others inside their historic black church in Charleston is prompting national soul-searching over historic but divisive symbols. The makeshift drape obscuring the secessionist battle flag only emphasized how quickly this symbol of Southern pride has fallen into official disrepute.
The white suspect in the shootings, Dylann Storm Roof, faces nine counts of murder in state court, where he could be sentenced to death. Federal officials said Wednesday it’s likely Roof will also face federal hate crime charges, the New York Times reported.
The Times said FBI analysts have concluded “with a high degree of certainty” that Roof posted a racist manifesto online, which could be a crucial factor in a hate crime prosecution.
Meanwhile, the call continued to remove secessionist symbols mounted. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley became the first southern governor to use his executive power to remove Confederate banners, as four flags with secessionist symbols were taken down Wednesday from a large monument to rebel soldiers outside that state’s capitol.
“It has become a distraction all over the country right now,” Bentley said. The iconic Confederate battle flag in particular “is offensive to some people because unfortunately, it’s like the swastika; some people have adopted that as part of their hatefilled groups.”
In South Carolina, making any changes to “heritage” symbols requires a two-thirds supermajority of both houses of the state legislature, and while lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for a debate later this summer, few wanted to risk ugly words during a week of funerals.
Pinckney’s open coffin was brought to the Statehouse in a horse-drawn carriage and displayed under the dome. He’s the first African-American given such an honour since at least Reconstruction.
Mourners were greeted by five state senators and two former governors, as well as his wife and two young daughters.
To honour him, people had to file past a statue of former Vice-President John C. Calhoun, who argued in the 1820s and 1830s that slavery was a “positive good,” and that states should be able to decide not to follow federal laws they don’t like.
A growing number of politicians have called for removing Civil Warera symbols, from state flags to license plates to statues and place names.
Many said change is imperative after seeing photos of Roof, 21, posing with the Confederate flag and burning and desecrating the U.S. flag. Now jailed on murder and gun charges in the massacre, Roof was captured after a motorist spotted his Confederate licence plate.