COLUMBIA, S.C. — State lawmakers in South Carolina have filed an additional bill to support their years-long efforts to pass a hate crime bill in the legislature — which 48 states have already done.
Last week, state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, (D-Charleston, S.C.) said the “Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act” was filed in the state Senate in to help expedite getting the bill signed into law, News13 reported.
The bill is named after a pastor who was killed in the June 17, 2015 Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting, which left nine people dead. Pinckney was also a former state senator.
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, also known as Mother Emanuel, is the oldest Black church in South Carolina.
After the deadly shooting, white supremacist and neo-Nazi Dylann Roof was convicted in December 2016 on federal charges including, including hate crimes. Roof was sentenced to death.
“If and when hate crimes do happen, it’s always better for the state to be on the side of justice and righteousness. Right now, we are not,” Gilliard told News 13.
Survivors of the shooting at Mother Emanuel have been among the many who have asked South Carolina lawmakers to pass a hate crime bill.
Many Republican lawmakers in South Carolina have resisted supporting previous proposed hate crime legislation.
Wyoming and South Carolina are the only two states that have yet to pass a crime bill.
More on the battle to pass hate crime legislation in South Carolina.