Latest developments

Obama will deliver senator’s eulogy

President Barack Obama will deliver the eulogy Friday for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney in Charleston.

Pinckney, also a state senator from Jasper County, was one of nine members of Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church killed Wednesday by a white-supremacist gunman. Obama will travel to Charleston with first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Pinckney’s funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday at TD Arena on the College of Charleston campus. Pinckney will lie in state from 1-5 p.m. Wednesday at the State House in Columbia.

Rally to target Confederate flag

A rally is planned Tuesday at the State House calling for the removal of the Confederate flag.

The event is set for 11 a.m. It was announced in a Facebook post, Rally To Remove Confederate Flag from SC State House.

S.C. legislators will be back at the State House Tuesday.

The colors of ‘peace and love’

Thousands throughout the state and nation say they are planning to wear blue and white Friday, the colors of the South Carolina state flag, after a Facebook page invited participants to display blue and white in any way they can.

The “Blue and White Friday” Facebook page was created Saturday and already has recorded more than 11,000 people planning to participate. The movement asks participants to display the state flag in a prominent place to be seen; to tie blue and white ribbons on trees, lamp posts, cars, and mailboxes; and to wear blue and white.

A description on the page said the rally is an effort to “come together united in one front and show the world the best we are. We cannot undo what has been done, but we can use it as a foundation to move forward in peace and love.”

Other states, similar issues

Mississippi and Tennessee officials are grappling with whether to retain Old South symbols, even as South Carolina leaders are pushing to remove the Confederate flag on the capitol grounds.

Mississippi voters decided by a 2-1 margin in 2001 to keep the state flag used since 1894. One of its corners has a Confederate battle emblem.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant said Monday he doesn’t believe legislators will “supersede the will of the people” and change the flag. Democratic Sen. Kenny Wayne Jones, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, says the emblem is a “symbol of hatred.”

Some Tennessee officials want to remove a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the state Capitol. Forrest was a Confederate general and an early Ku Klux Klan leader.

‘Wonderful’ response to Riley fund

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said he has been overwhelmed but not surprised at the outpouring of donations for a fund he helped set up for the families of the victims of the Charleston shootings.

Riley said donations poured in to the Mother Emanuel Hope Fund and the Reverend Pinckney fund. City officials are still trying to figure out how much money the funds had Monday morning.

“I’ve got $110,000 in checks in my pocket. It’s wonderful,” Riley said.

People can donate on the city’s website: http://www.charleston-sc.gov

‘We are Charleston strong and Jesus strong’

A prayer service was held at Whitefield Center at Charleston Southern Monday to remember shooting victim Sharonda Singleton and offer prayers for her son, Chris Singleton, who plays baseball there.

The Charleston Post and Courier reported about 350 attended the service for Sharonda Singleton, 45, who was killed along with eight others Wednesday at Emanuel AME Church. She was the girls’ track coach at Goose Creek High.

“Let’s stand on Chris’ words,” said campus pastor Jon Davis, referring to her son’s remarks after his mother’s death. “Love is stronger than hate. We are Charleston strong and Jesus strong.”

This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 10:42 PM.