A presidential aide read a message from the president and the first lady during the communitywide service.
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The Rev. Becky Crites said their goal was to have an ecumenical service, welcoming people of all faiths to come and share in the “Vigil for Light”. The group also called for churches nationwide to join in the work of racial unity. “It could’ve been any of us there”, she said.
“It’s a shared responsibility”, Clark said. They discussed how accused shooter, Dylann Roof, was able to get his gun after a background check failed to come back, referring to the mishap as the ‘Charleston Loophole’. A white man, Dylann Roof, faces charges in both state and federal courts and prosecutors in each are seeking the death penalty. Haley attended each of the nine victims’ funerals and now keeps all of the funeral programs in a drawer in her bedroom. She said the state remains great. It comes just days after 49 innocent people were killed in Orlando, so security at the service was extra heavy.
One year later, and I ask myself: what, if anything, have we learned as a society in the aftermath of that horrific event?
Mayor John Tecklenburg had the challenging task of not only stepping into office after 40 years of Riley’s service but also serving a community still coming together after the tragedy.
Risher is now an advocate for keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. Instead, many of his victims’ families said they forgave him, a gesture filled with grace which has inspired a community.
“What I see is a cross-generational, cross-racial future for a church that is no longer restricted to its former self”, he said, according to the Times.
Haley, who led the push to lower the Confederate flag after the murders, told the audience that the shootings feel like they happened yesterday.
“The pain of knowing my mother and cousins were killed, in a racially motivated hate crime, is something that I carry with me everyday”, she says.
“They were our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters, our sisters and brothers, our friends and fellow citizens”, he said. The stage was lined with pictures of the nine Emanuel AME victims, the words “Still Speaking from Eternity” above each picture. Tony Sane, Buford Street United Methodist Church music director, said 25 singers from Gaffney, Spartanburg, Greenville and Travelers Rest representing seven denominations participated.
Kerry Linen from Charleston said the memorial service helps with the healing process.
“I acknowledge the Second Amendment, but I was appalled by the way he was treated by the leadership of that House”, Norris said.
“You can bring people together”.
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During the ceremony on Friday, June 17, 10 candles were lit – nine for the Charleston victims and one for the victims in Orlando. The shooting still resonates a year later, he said.
