CHARLESTON, South Carolina -- In the hours after a white suspect shot nine black people gathered in prayer in a historic Charleston church, local residents mourned their dead.
And beyond sadness, there were calls for the Confederate flag to come down.
"Every time I look at it and see it fly, it hurts me," said 56-year-old Benjamin White, who was among those who had gathered to pay their respects to the victims of the shooting.
"They lift it high on the truck, on the Capitol building. We've got to get the flag down. We're fighting for that flag to come down."
"We're fighting for that flag to come down," Benjamin White, on the Confederate flag flying over SC Capitol grounds. pic.twitter.com/eCWKm5LzZg— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 18, 2015
The flag, which has long divided South Carolina, currently flies on the grounds of the state Capitol in Columbia, in front of the Confederate Soldiers Monument. Its defenders say the flag recalls the Civil War but to many it symbolizes segregation and what's worse.
"White supremacy," said White. "That's where that comes from."
"Every time I...see it fly, it hurts me," Ben White, on the Confederate flag at SC Capitol. #CharelstonShooting pic.twitter.com/dqs4gQAhD3— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 18, 2015
The suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, was arrested on Thursday afternoon. Images of him in front of his car with its confederate flag license plate circulated widely as did an image from his Facebook page, showing him wearing a jacket with two flags sewn onto it: one representing Rhodesia and the other apartheid South Africa. Both were countries with white minority rule.
"All flags are political," said Muhiyidin d'Baha, leader of the Black Lives Matter group in Charleston. "They represent cultures and ideologies and ways of life. It's not just a pretty collection of colors."
Both shootings were political, he added: The killing of Walter Scott represented "state violence" and the church shooting white supremacist terrorism.
"It wasn't too long ago that that kind of lynching and that kind of massacre wouldn't have been out of place," he said. "Nothing has changed."
Muhiyidin d'Baha, a leader of Black Lives Matter here, said Confed. flag is same as racist flags on killer's jacket. #CharlestonShooting— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 18, 2015
On Thursday afternoon, many residents attended a prayer vigil at Morris Brown AME church, the sister church of the African Methodist Episcopal Church where the shootings took place. Some people held "black lives matter" signs, others exchanged hugs and shook their heads in sadness.
Several said they couldn't believe the media was already back in Charleston so soon after the killing of Walter Scott, a black North Charleston resident, who was shot by a white police officer in April. The shooting was captured on video by a bystander.
Morris Brown AME Church, sis. church to Emanuel AME Church, where #CharelstonShooting happened. Vigil was held here. pic.twitter.com/V44RiVlHkS— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 18, 2015
After the shooting, there were also calls on Twitter for Gov. Nikki Haley to bring down the Confederate flag.
Gov @nikkihaley, after 9 of your citizens were slaughtered by hate, you must take that confederate flag down. #CharlestonShooting— Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayyer) June 18, 2015
Say again: It's the perfect opportunity for SC to show what it stands for & pull down the flag #CharlestonShooting https://t.co/xayrQAne5i— John Robinson (@johnrobinson) June 18, 2015
During the South Carolina governor’s debate in 2014, Haley’s democratic opponent Vincent Sheheen suggested retiring the Confederate flag to rally “under a flag that unites us all – the American flag.” In her response, Haley acknowledged that it was “sensitive issue” but suggested there was no need to remove it from the Capitol grounds because none of the business leaders she had spoken to had mentioned it.
“I can honestly say that I’ve not had one conversation with a single CEO about the Confederate flag,” she said.
Under current South Carolina law, the flag can't be removed.
"It’s still something that divides us," Sheheen told the Huffington Post.