Raleigh church has ties to victims in Charleston shooting
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Rev. Clay Barrow considers St. Paul AME Church in downtown Raleigh his home.
Barrow attended a prayer vigil at the historically black church Thursday evening to remember slain South Carolina State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, an outspoken pastor and Barrow's friend.
"Heartbreaking, really tough to wrap my mind around it," said Barrow about learning of Pinckney's murder.
Beyond the initial shock are questions about the alleged killer.
"Justice will be served. I am glad that they caught the perpetrator," said Barrow. "But, I'm more concerned about the families who'll be impacted. I'm more concerned about my church. We've been this way before and we're equipped to handle it."
That same historical significance is echoed by North Carolina NAACP President William Barber. He believes the recent political climate may have motivated the alleged gunman to target Pinckney and his congregation.
"This is a terrorist act, domestic terrorism," said Barber, emphasizing that Pinckney was not only a passionate pastor but also an advocate for social justice as a state senator.
"You cannot forget that in American history, whenever you have progressiveness, there's this violent resistance to moving forward," added Barber. "We need to probe what got in the mind of this young man that he would target black people and a black church with this kind of historic civil rights justice, and a pastor who is in the pulpit, the streets, and in the legislature."
With heavy hearts, members of St. Paul AME will try to move forward from the tragic loss of one of their own.
Much like the prayer meeting the alleged gunman attended before opening fire, Thursday night's prayer vigil was open to the public.
"The church doors still remain open because that's who we are. We can't close the door," explained Rev. Gregory Edmond, senior pastor of St. Paul AME. "What we can do is put in place those mechanisms to help watch who is coming through the door."
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