The South Carolina church where nine people died in a gun attack by an alleged White supremacist less than a week ago reopened to worshippers on Sunday. Worshippers attended the first service at Charleston’s historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church since Wednesday, when Dylann Roof, 21, is alleged to have pulled a gun on members of a Bible study group. The church pastor, the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, a state senator, was among the nine people who were killed.
Uniformed police officers were posted on both levels of the sanctuary. The service began with prayer and songs and a message of love, recovery and healing. The proceedings then became more solemn as the victims’ names were read and the music’s tempo slowed.
