SC Senate gives final OK to Confederate flag removal

The South Carolina Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a bill removing the Confederate flag from a pole in front of the Statehouse, sending the proposal to the House, where it faces a less certain future.

The divisive banner at the Capitol came under greater scrutiny over the last few weeks after authorities said a gunman, motivated by racial hatred, opened fire inside a black church June 17, killing nine people. The suspect was photographed several times holding a Confederate flag and burning an American flag, and one of the slain was state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who was the head pastor at the church.