Vigil for Charleston shooting victims held at Rocky Mount church
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) -- In the almost two weeks since the Charleston church shooting we've seen amazing acts of kindness, forgiveness and change.
Tuesday night, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-North Carolina, attended a vigil in Rocky Mount in hopes of pushing that change along.
The crowd prayed, sang, and rewatched President Barack Obama's eulogy for the late Pastor and South Carolina State Sen. Clementa Pinckney. They even sang along with the President on the television screen as he sang "Amazing Grace."
The crowd inside the Church of God of Deliverance and Butterfield talked about what happened inside history Emanuel A.M.E. Church almost two weeks ago.
"He [Dylann Roof] shot Pastor Pinckney and he killed him. Then he started down the row and killed each one of those participating in that service," Butterfield reflected.
Butterfield, those inside the church, and the rest of the world are now living in the aftermath of that tragedy.
We've seen the Confederate flag come down. We've seen people fighting for the right to fly it and even the Ku Klux Klan rising to attention once again. Just Monday, we reported on the Klan distributing flyers nationwide as a call of recruitment and plans to rally on July 18 in South Carolina in support of the Confederate flag.
"The legacy of those hate groups unfortunately continues, not as rampant as they used to be, but they're still there and so we must as a faith community confront hate with love," said Butterfield when asked about his thoughts on that upcoming rally.
Tuesday night's vigil in Rocky Mount ended with more prayer and song and with a pledge to keep fighting for a safer world for future generations.
