Los Angeles Lawmakers, Religious Leaders Condemn Charleston Church Shootings
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — Southern California lawmakers and religious leaders expressed shock Thursday at the fatal shootings of nine people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.
Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer adjourned Thursday's legislative session in honor of nine slain in the church shooting, calling the slayings a travesty and a scar on the country.
The church's pastor, South Carolina state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was among the dead. Jones-Sawyer praised the senator for his leadership on legislation to equip law enforcement with body cameras and for his activism after a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man near Charleston this year.
The Los Angeles lawmaker says he never thought he'd never again see such violence at a black church after four girls were killed in an Alabama church bombing in 1963 and that the Charleston shooting is a reminder the U.S. "has a lot of work to do."
Rev. J. Edgar Boyd of First AME Church and Rabbi Zoe Klein of Temple Isaiah, both in Los Angeles, issued a joint statement saying they "join with other peace-loving individuals across racial and religious lines in sharing words of comfort and solace to the families of Pastor Clementa Pinckney and the other eight women and men who were so senselessly gunned down..."
"There is no earthly justification as to why this sinister and heinous act would be carried out, and in, of all places, a church during prayer time," they said. "While the facts and other vital information about the incident are still being gathered and discovered, we encourage peace-loving people within and without institutions of faith to reach out to God and to each other, offering prayer and consolation in the wake of this senseless attack against life and liberty."
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck met with area religious leaders Thursday morning at First AME Church to assure them that police have
strong ties with area churches and are committed to keeping them safe.
"You know, with every tragedy comes an opportunity to make things better, and hopefully we can make this relationship even stronger," Beck said.
Rev. Mark Whitlock of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Irvine called the shooting "a holy tragedy."
"This leaves a permanent memory of pain in the life of the AME church," he said.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
