South Carolina governor signs law removing Confederate flag from Capitol

confederate flag
(Image credit: Getty Images)

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) signed a law removing the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds Thursday, marking the end of a legislative battle that began last month in the wake of the allegedly racially motivated Charleston church shootings in which a white gunman killed nine at a historically black church.

After more than 13 hours of debate, the South Carolina House voted 94-20 early Thursday to send the bill to the governor for approval. The flag, which many consider to be a racist symbol, will officially come down from its post at the Capitol building at 10 a.m. ET Friday morning.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Samantha Rollins

Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.