COLUMBIA, S.C. — For the first time since the civil rights movement, the Confederate flag was removed entirely from the South Carolina Statehouse, in a swift ceremony Friday before thousands of people who cheered as the Civil War-era banner was lowered from a 30-foot flagpole. Many people believed the flag would fly indefinitely in this state, which was the first to leave Union, but the killing of nine black church members during a Bible study in Charleston last month changed that sentiment and reignited calls to bring down Confederate flags and symbols across the nation. Dylann Roof, a white man who was photographed with the Confederate flag, is charged in the shooting deaths, and authorities have called the killings a hate crime.
Confederate flag taken down in S.C. after 54 years
Thousands gather to witness event
![](https://statesboroherald.cdn-anvilcms.net/media/images/2018/05/28/images/Confederate_Flag_Ledb.max-1200x675.jpg)
![Confederate Flag Ledb](https://statesboroherald.cdn-anvilcms.net/media/images/2018/05/28/images/Confederate_Flag_Ledb.max-752x423.jpg)
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