The state Senate will debate a bill calling for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the statehouse campus in the wake of the Charleston church massacre.
The South Carolina legislature will debate the removal of the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds.
Lawmakers will debate bill S. 897 which calls for the permanent removal of the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds and its transfer to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia for "appropriate display."
Cries for the removal of the flag amplified in the wake of the June 17 massacre of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston. The suspect in the shooting, Dylann Roof, was seen in photos holding the Confederate flag. The flag was also mentioned in an online manifesto about white supremacy thought to belong to the 21-year-old.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, along with other state officials, have called for the removal of the flag. Haley described it as "a deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past."
The bill requires to be passed by a two-thirds majority of 30 or more Senators. If that happens, it will move on to the House, where it needs at least 75 votes or more to be presented before Haley for approval.
A survey by the Associated Press, The Post and Courier newspaper, and the South Carolina Press Association found that at least 33 senators and 83 House members agreed to vote in favor of removing the flag from Capitol grounds.
The debate has triggered both pro-Confederate and anti-flag protests in the state. Two activists were arrested for scaling the pole and taking down the Confederate flag outside the State Capitol last week.
Supporters of keeping the Confederate battle flag flying at a Confederate monument at the South Carolina Statehouse wave flags during a rally in front of the statehouse in Columbia, S.C., on June 27.
Bruce Smith / AP
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1CkSuWZ
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