The Rev. Clementa Pinckney of Emanuel AME
Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel AME church on the Charleston peninsula, and he asked who was its minister. He was not immediately threatening, and joined in the prayer group. Then he opened fire with a Glock weapon shooting nine members of the group, including the minister, The Rev. Clementa Pinckney.
Pinckney, who was regarded as an exceptional preacher and public servant died. He was only 41 years old.
With the information now available, there can be little doubt that Roof targeted that historic AME Church and its minister as part of his plans to start a race war in South Carolina. How much did Roof know of Pinckney's genealogy and his family history? We cannot know, but it is ironic that Pinckney may have descended from one of the most aristocratic and prominent white families of SC history, if information from Wikipedia is correct.
There is debate over whether this was an act of terrorism or a hate crime. The alleged shooter was obsessed with 'black on white' crime and called slavery a 'myth' However, I believe it was primarily an assassination and that Pinckney was chosen as the primary target by Roof.
The minister was born Clementa Carlos "Clem" Pinckney in Beaufort, South Carolina, the son of Theopia Stevenson Aikens (née Brooms; 1945-2005), an early childhood development educator, and John Pinckney. He began preaching at his church at age 13, and by age 18, he was appointed pastor.
Pinckney's mother's family, the Stevenson family, have many generations of pastors in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. A maternal great-grandfather named Reverend Lorenzo Stevenson brought a lawsuit against the state Democratic Party to end unintegrated primaries. During the Civil Rights movement, an uncle named Reverend Levern Stevenson worked with the NAACP to desegregate school buses and sued Gov. John C. West to create single-member districts to help elect more blacks into the South Carolina General Assembly.
Pinckney's father's family, the Pinckney family, based in the Beaufort, South Carolina, area could possibly be descendants of slaves owned by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who was instrumental in framing the United States Constitution. The Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge is where the plantation was located.
Rev. Pinckney graduated with a B.A. from Allen University in 1995 and went on to obtain a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of South Carolina in 1999. He then obtained a master’s of divinity from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC. Pinckney was a student at Wesley Theological Seminary pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree.
Pinckney was first elected to the South Carolina General Assembly in 1996 at the age of 23, becoming the youngest African American elected as a South Carolina state legislator. He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives until being elected to the South Carolina Senate representing the 45th District in 2000.
As a state senator, Pinckney pushed for laws to require police and other law enforcement officials to wear body cameras after Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, was shot eight times in the back by a police officer in North Charleston.
"He had a core not many of us have," said Sen. Vincent Sheheen, who sat beside him in Senate chambers. "I think of the irony that the most gentle of the 46 of us — the best of the 46 of us in this chamber — is the one who lost his life."
Senators walked into chambers together last Thursday and gathered at the podium for a prayer. A vase of flowers sat on a black cloth draping Pinckney's desk.
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President Barack Obama arruves on Air Force One in Charleston, SC.
UPDATE: How you can help the people of Emanuel AME Church. Go to City of Charleston website and follow instructions posted there last Friday for
Lowcountry Ministries – Reverend Pinckney Fund
This Fund will be administered by the Palmetto Project (a South Carolina non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of South Carolinians). These donations will be tax deductible. Donations can be made by donating online at the following web site - www.palmettoproject.org
06-26-2015 UPDATE: Rev. Pincney's funeral at College of Charleston's arena is being carried live in entirety by PBS stations. President Obama and First Lady Michele Obama have arrived in Charleston and are traveling down I-26 East to the arena. President Obama will give a eulogy to Carlos Clementa Pinckney. The arena is packed, and a huge crowd is still outside according to WIS TV and to the Charleston Post and Courier reporters.