Republican lawmaker: Take down Confederate flag
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C.
The Confederate flag has no place on South Carolina Statehouse grounds, and it’s past time to remove the symbol of hatred, a Republican state lawmaker said Saturday, three days after the shooting massacre at a black church 100 miles away.
Rep. Doug Brannon, first elected in 2010, said he’s thought for years that the flag should come down, but it wasn’t until Wednesday’s deaths of nine parishioners in Charleston that he decided he could do something about it.
“I just didn’t have the balls for five years to do it. But when my friend was assassinated for being nothing more than a black man, I decided it was time for that thing to be off the Statehouse grounds,” Brannon said. “It’s not just a symbol of hate, it’s actually a symbol of pride in one’s hatred.”
Dylann Storm Roof, the 21-year-old jailed on nine murder charges for the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church, briefly escaped in a car bearing Confederate insignia and can be seen in photos on social media with the flag. The nine shooting victims included the church’s beloved pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney.
On Saturday evening, a large crowd rallied outside the Statehouse against the flag’s presence, calling it a symbol of hatred, not heritage.
Police wouldn’t give an estimate for attendance, but there appeared to be hundreds, if not thousands, of people. They chanted “take it down” and ended the rally by singing “We Shall Overcome.” The rally lasted more than an hour and had several speakers.
In December, Brannon said, he will introduce a bill to move the flag and pole to the state’s Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. December is the first opportunity for bills to be pre-filed for the legislative session that resumes in January.
Brannon said several Republican House members have called him and offered to co-sponsor the bill, but he told them not to. Though he’s certain a lot of Republicans will vote for his bill, he said, “I’m not willing to risk somebody else’s political career.”
In 1998, former Gov. David Beasley lost his bid for a second term after coming out in support of removing the flag from the dome.
“I was very proud of him for his position,” Brannon said. “But I understand politics and why it landed where it did.”