Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley has headed down to South Carolina to pay his respects for the late state Sen. Clementa Pickney in the wake of the Charleston massacre.
Coming from New Hampshire Wednesday morning, O’Malley’s visited the rotunda lobby of the South Carolina State House in Columbia, where Pickney’s body is lying in state.
Pickney was shot and killed along with eight other congregants during a Wednesday evening Bible study last week.
During a previous trip to South Carolina, O’Malley visited the Charleston Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church. Pickney pulled together a small group of clergy and members of the community to meet with O’Malley in the basement of the church and discuss issues relevant to the early voting primary state.
In the wake of the mass shooting, O’Malley has been extremely vocal about gun control, racism and the Confederate flag. Just two days after the June 17 shooting the former Maryland governor sent an email to his supporters stating that he was “pissed” about the violence propagated by guns, and that he was now “doubling down” his efforts on gun control.
O’Malley also supported removing the Confederate flag from the state capitol building in South Carolina, launching a campaign on his website to “restore the flag to a museum.”
“Many states in our country fly this rallying banner for hate. It’s a symbol of 150 years of bigotry and racism — a reminder of a time the United States failed to live up to its founding principles, and we should take it down,” O’Malley said
As O’Malley visited the Statehouse, the flag continued to fly over Pickney’s body.
