South Carolina state Senator Clementa Pinckney was one of the 9 victims of last night’s horrific massacre in Charleston. Pinckney came from a family of pastors, and started preaching at the age of 13. He was named a pastor at 18, and was appointed to his church in Charleston in 2010. Rev Pinckney, 41, was the youngest African American ever elected to the South Carolina state legislature in 1996 at the age of 23.
Brent Roske, a politico and filmmaker from Iowa, remembered the senator in a segment on Des Moine’s KCWI by revisiting a speech he made on the state House floor regarding the senseless murder of Walter Scott by a policeman earlier this year.
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“Normally my segments here reflect the lighter side of politics, but not today.” Roske said. “Last night 9 people were shot dead in cold blood in South Carolina – as they were praying in church – in a senseless act of barbarism. Every media outlet in the country is covering this story but as my program focuses on politics I wanted to pay respects to the minister of the church who was also a South Carolina State Senator. Reverend and State Senator Clementa Pinkney was just 41 years old. He received a master’s of divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of South Carolina. He was elected to the South Carolina House in 1996 and was elected to the state Senate in 2000.
This video we’re about to see shows the shattering irony of one man giving a speech about another man killed in cold blood. It’s heartbreaking, but Senator Pinkney’s eloquence and grace then are too great not to share now. So, from the South Carolina State Senate – in a speech he gave only 2 months ago – here is the now deceased Senator Pinckney.”
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http://youtu.be/Qhamgkn5ReM
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