Crowds Pay Their Respects To Rev. Clementa Pinckney
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CHARLESTON, SC — Thursday night, mourners packed Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston to say goodbye to Reverend Clementa Pinckney. The line outside stretched for blocks. The pastor and State Senator is one of nine people murdered last week during Bible study. Huge crowds are expected for Pinckney’s funeral Friday. President Obama will give the eulogy.
With a police escort and a chorus of spirituals to accompany him, the Reverend Clementa Pinckney’s casket returned home to Emanuel AME Church, where he served as pastor, and where he was killed.
“There’s a calmness in that building right there. Calmness,” said Augusta, Georgia resident Arvella Robinson. “We want calmness in our community; we want peace in our community; we want love in our community.”
Robinson traveled more than 200 miles to be there, and like everyone else, she waited in the heat all day to go inside and pay her respects.
“Just waiting,” she said. “Just waiting just to feel the spirit of those who have forgiven that young man for what he did.”
Randall Case and his daughters never made it through the long line of hundreds waiting to get inside. Still, they left a simple message in the guest book: “May God bless Emanuel AME Church”. For them, being there was a blessing.
“There’s good that’s being shown here,” said Case. “And that’s another reason why I came: to show my kids that there’s good in this world.”
One of many lessons Charlottean Alicia Worthy Ali is being learned as a result of what happened inside the church.
“I think we need to learn that whether we’re in Charlotte, whether in Raleigh, whether in New York, it’s love, which is one of those things that we’re speaking about today,” said Ali.
As Charleston remains strong, the focus will shift from Mother Emanuel to TD Arena on Friday, where President Obama will deliver the eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney.
