South Carolina governor signs law to take down 'symbol of hate' Confederate flag
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has signed a bill into law removing the Confederate flag from the State House grounds hours after the House of Representatives passed the legislation following an emotional debate on Thursday.
"This is a story about the history of South Carolina, and how the action of nine individuals laid out this long chain of events that forever showed the state of South Carolina what love and forgiveness looks like," Haley wrote on her Facebook page.
The bill removes the South Carolina Infantry Battle Flag of the Confederate States of America within 24 hours from its effectivity. The flag will then be transferred to the Confederate Relic Room.
"Today, as the Senate did before them, the House of Representatives has served the State of South Carolina and her people with great dignity," said Haley, ABC News reported. "I'm grateful for their service and their compassion. It is a new day in South Carolina, a day we can all be proud of, a day that truly brings us all together as we continue to heal, as one people and one state."
Haley said the flag would be taken down at 10 a.m. Friday, according to Reuters.
The Confederate flag became the subject of intense debate after the mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 26 where Dylann Roof gunned down nine people including state Senator Clementa Pinckney.
At the state House of Representatives, Republican Rep. Jenny Horne was in tears as she decried how the bill was being stalled by amendments.
"I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful, such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday. For the widow of Sen. Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury and I will not be a part of it," she said.
The bill was passed at the state House of Representatives with a 94-20 vote. The state Senate passed the bill on July 7 with a 37-3 vote.
It will amend South Carolina's 1976 Code, which authorised flags that would be flown atop the State House and on the Capitol grounds.
The flag has flown at the capitol for 54 years, Reuters reported.
