Jan. 6 committee chair will keynote SC NAACP’s in-person return to King Day at the Dome
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, will speak Monday at the annual King Day at the Dome rally, the S.C. NAACP State Conference announced.
The event is returning to the South Carolina State House after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the event to be moved online.
Thompson, who has served in Congress since 1993 and twice chaired the House Homeland Security Committee, most recently chaired the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Last year, the committee referred former President Donald Trump to the U.S. Department of Justice on criminal charges, including inciting an insurrection and obstructing the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
King Day at the Dome carries historical significance in South Carolina, starting more than two decades ago when protesters stood outside the Capitol and demanded the Legislature take down the Confederate flag from atop the State House dome. A legislative deal later moved the flag to the front of the complex, next to the Confederate soldier monument, facing Gervais and Main Streets. After the June 2015 murders of nine Black Charleston churchgoers, including a state senator, the Legislature removed the flag completely from the State House grounds.
The event since has gained national attention, and attracted high-profile politicians.
In 2020, eight Democratic presidential candidates attended, including then-candidate Joe Biden.
King Day at the Dome schedule:
▪ 8 a.m. prayer service at Zion Baptist Church, 801 Washington St.
▪ 9:30 a.m. march from the church to the S.C. State House
▪ 10 a.m. rally at the State House
