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                        Charleston's Emanuel AME Reopens

   by Amanda Scott

   Crowds gathered at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church for the first
   worship service at the historic African American church since a white
   gunman killed nine black people at Bible study group there last week.

   Sunday's service was due to start after Sunday School resumed at the
   South Carolina church. A short time later churches across Charleston
   planned to ring their bells in unison as a show of solidarity before
   prayer gatherings in the city.  Later Sunday, organizers called for
   thousands of people to join hands across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge
   that connects downtown Charleston and Mount Pleasant in another show of
   unity.

   People lined up to enter Emanuel AME early Sunday.  Others gathered to
   reflect on what happened last week, and look over hundreds of flowers
   and note that have been placed around the church.

   ''As the church filled Sunday, visitors from Charleston and as far away
   as California sat in sections on the sides of the building. The center
   section filled with members of the church, who were more solemn, and
   hugged each other as they offered signs of support.

   Gail Lincoln, a member of the Macedonia E Church in Charleston told VOA
   her church has a lot of interaction with Emanuel AME and that she knew
   some of the people who were killed last week. She said she came to the
   service Sunday to show her support.

   ''Saturday rallies, marches

   Rallies and gatherings were held Saturday in Charleston and around the
   United States as people gathered to remember and pay respects to those
   affected by the shooting deaths in the church last Wednesday night.

   In Charleston, crowds gathered in several areas of the city, and
   marchers dressed in black and mourning clothes after a day a reflection
   outside the historic church.

   ''Pastor Dimas Salaberrios of New York's Infinity Bible Church told
   mourners in Charleston it was vital to transcend racial animosity.

   In New York, congregants gathered at one of the country's largest AME
   churches for a morning prayer service, followed by a march and rally.
   Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "Yes, it was terrorism, terrorism based on
   racism; but, that does not negate the fact that we have a gun problem
   in this country."

   In Detroit, the local chapter of Reverend Al Sharpton's group, the
   National Action Network, held an interfaith gathering in response to
   the Charleston shooting. An interracial prayer service will also take
   place in Atlanta, a key city in the U.S. civil rights movement.

   Roof charged with nine counts of murder

   The suspect in the mass shooting, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, is being
   held in the Charleston County jail. A website registered in his name
   showed dozens of photos of Roof holding a Confederate flag and burning
   an American flag surfaced Saturday, along with racist writings.

   He is charged with nine counts of murder and one count of criminal
   possession of a firearm. A judge in Charleston set bail of $1 million
   for Roof on the firearms charge but said he did not have the authority
   to set bail on the nine counts of murder.

   In San Francisco Saturday, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary
   Clinton called for more gun control in the wake of the deadly church
   shooting.

   "This generation will not be shackled by fear and hate," she told the
   U.S. Conference of Mayors. "I am not and will not be afraid to keep
   fighting for common sense reforms," she said.

   Have to 'fix this'

   A day earlier, at the same meeting in San Francisco, President Obama
   spoke for the first time about race in relation to the shootings.  He
   said, "The apparent motivations of the shooter remind us that racism
   remains a blight we have to combat together."

   ''Obama said he is not willing to accept that regular mass shootings
   are "the new normal" in the U.S., but he doubts Congress will move to
   change gun laws because of the influence the National Rifle Association
   wields with the lawmakers.

   Calling for a change in attitudes, he said, "We have to have a
   conversation about this and fix this." The president said it is not
   good enough to "show sympathy."

   At Mother Emanuel

   Since the shootings, spontaneous prayer services and gatherings have
   been held outside Emanuel AME as Charleston residents, visitors and
   dignitaries reflect on the violence.  The memorial for the victims has
   grown outside Mother Emanuel, as the church is affectionately known.
   People brought flowers, balloons and placards in remembrance of the
   victims.

   The shooting marks one of the most notorious attacks on a black church
   in the South since the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church
   in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four young girls and helped
   galvanize the U.S. civil rights movement. The bombing was tied to the
   Ku Klux Klan.

   Emanuel AME Church was founded in 1816 after splitting from the city's
   white Methodist Episcopal church, making it one of the oldest
   African-American congregations in the southern United States.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/charleston-emanuel-ame-to-hold-sunday
   -worship/2831214.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/charleston-emanuel-ame-to-hold-sunday-worship/2831214.html