Emanuel AME Church to hold 1st service since massacre
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- As Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church prepared to reopen for the first time since nine people were shot to death during a prayer meeting, hundreds of protesters walked down the streets of Charleston on Saturday, chanting "Black lives matter" and "We can't take it no more."
CBS affiliate WCSC-TV reported the crowd walked close to a mile through the city, stopping to place flowers at a growing memorial in front of the church, known as "Mother Emanuel."
The peaceful march ended at the Daughters of the Confederacy building, where the group hung a banner with the names of the nine victims.
"I felt the pain and the heaviness of the nine lives that were lost. People were crying, people were upset," marcher Ansley Pope said.
Among the speakers was the Rev. Waltrina Middleton, a cousin of the Rev. Middleton-Doctor, who was slain.
"My ancestors were trotted through this market, their bodies on the ground of this Meeting Street, this marketplace," she said. "To know the trail of blood flows from here, it flows straight to Mother Emmanuel, it breaks my heart."
The marchers also wanted to commemorate the lives of those lost at the hands of "police" or "vigilante violence," according to a press release from organizers, WCSC-TV said.
"It's the same thing that gets perpetuated now. There's nothing new under the sun. White supremacy still exists and it consistently shows and rears its ugly head," Mary Hooks, a member of the Atlanta chapter of Southerners on New Grounds, told the station.
William Dunlap, a South Carolina resident, said he has hopes the city can make the best of a bad situation.
"I'm from South Carolina. I see the hate, but I know what my city and state can become and I love this city and I think Charleston is a great city. I think we're going to change this into a positive situation."
Statewide leaders of the AME church announced they will hold a service Sunday morning at Emanuel, according to WCSC-TV.
Harold Washington, 75, was with the small group that saw the lower-level room where the victims were shot.
"They did a good job cleaning it up," he said. "There were a few bullet holes around, but what they did, they cut them out so you don't see the actual holes."
Washington said he expected an emotional service with a large turnout Sunday.
"We're gonna have people come by that we've never seen before and will probably never see again, and that's OK," he said. "It's a church of the Lord -- you don't turn nobody down."
The church had that same welcoming nature when Roof walked into their Bible study, Felecia Sanders said at Roof's bail hearing Friday. Sanders survived the shooting, but her son Tywanza died.
Funeral plans have been made for South Carolina state Sen. the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the church's pastor.
Pinckney's casket will be at the Statehouse for public viewing on Wednesday afternoon. Additional public viewings will be held Thursday at a Columbia church and at Emanuel.
His funeral is set for 11 a.m. Friday at TD Arena on the College of Charleston campus, where thousands of people gathered for a vigil Friday night in honor of the shooting victims.
About 100 miles away, a large crowd rallied Saturday in Columbia against the presence of the Confederate flag on the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse. The church massacre has renewed calls for the removal of the flag.
Police wouldn't give an estimate for attendance, but there appeared to be hundreds, if not thousands, of people there, chanting "take it down."
"We know what that flag symbolizes," Michaela Pilar Brown, a Columbia artist, said at the rally. "We know the hate. We know the danger. It says 'stop.' It says 'you are not welcome here.' It says 'fear for your life.' Take down the flag."
The suspected gunman, 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof, has been charged with murder and gun possession. Authorities say he opened fire Wednesday night after joining church members for an hour-long bible study. He was arrested Thursday in North Carolina and made his first court appearance in Charleston on Friday.
A law enforcement source told CBS News that investigators were trying to determine the legitimacy of an online manifesto purportedly posted by the suspect which surfaced Saturday.
The document, posted by someone using Roof's name, includes a lengthy diatribe of racist ideology. The website also featured photos showing Roof posing with a gun and Confederate flags.