# Charleston Church Shooting On June 17, 2015 a 21-year-old white supremacist shot and killed nine Black worshippers at a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, after sitting with them for an hour. His manifesto and photographs with the [[Confederate Battle Flag]] turned the flag's public status overnight: Governor [[Nikki Haley]] signed its removal from the statehouse grounds on July 9, 2015, and it came down July 10 ([[South Carolina Statehouse Flag]]), and retailers, NASCAR and state legislatures followed. He was convicted on federal hate-crime charges and sentenced to death in January 2017 — the first federal death sentence for a hate crime. ## See also - [[Confederate Battle Flag]] · [[South Carolina Statehouse Flag]] · [[Contested Symbols Hub]]