Gov. Haley Breaks Down: ‘The Heart And Soul Of South Carolina Was Broken’ (VIDEO)

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South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) on Thursday delivered an emotional and tearful response to the mass shooting that occurred at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C.

Haley’s comments came after the white shooter, Dylann Roof, was apprehended for allegedly shooting nine black people Wednesday night at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

“You know we woke up today,” Haley said, before getting choked up, “and the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken. And so we have some grieving we have to do. And we’ve got some pain we have to go through. Parents are having to explain to their kids how they can go to church and feel safe and that’s not something we ever thought we’d deal with.”

Haley commended the quick action of law enforcement and the leadership of Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley before encouraging South Carolinians to stay strong.

“We are a strong and faithful state,” Haley said. “We love our state, we love our country and most importantly we love each other. And I will tell you there’s a lot of prayer in this state and so you are gonna see all of us trying to lift these nine families up in prayer because they need us.”

“These nine families need us,” Haley continued. “The Emmanuel AME church needs us. The AME Church family needs us. And the people of South Carolina need us to come together and be strong for what has happened.”

Watch the video below, from MSNBC:

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for pine pine says:

    What has Donald Trump said ?

  2. Crocodile tears. She has the presence of mind to put this in there,

    " Parents are having to explain to their kids how they can go to church and feel safe and that’s not something we ever thought we’d deal with.”

    Perfectly in line with the emerging right wing talking point on this event. It’s an attack on Christianity.

    The real line should have been, “Parents are having to explain to their kids how they can’t feel safe anywhere in this state…because of the color of their skin. But that’s something we have been dealing with for hundreds of years down here”

    Wouldn’t have gone over quite as well, though.

  3. Did she ever admit this was a racially motivated hate crime or is this just about the church and christianity and prayer and holiness and white children who are now inexplicably afraid to go to their white churches?

  4. They cry so easily when it suits them…

  5. “You know we woke up today,” Haley said, before getting choked up, “and
    the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken. And so we have some
    grieving we have to do. And we’ve got some pain we have to go through.
    Parents are having to explain to their kids how they can go to church
    and feel safe and that’s not something we ever thought we’d deal with.”

    You’re missing something there, Nikki.

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