On the Charleston Tragedy

"The Virginia Flaggers join the entire country in mourning the loss of the 9 men and women killed in the massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC on Wednesday evening. We offer our deepest sympathies to those who lost loved ones and friends in the tragedy, and pledge to continue to pray for comfort and peace for those who are grieving after the senseless act of violence.

We condemn any and all such acts of savagery, and call for swift and severe punishment for anyone who is found guilty of having any part in this heinous crime.

At the same time, we are deeply saddened to watch the disgusting attempts by some media representatives, self-appointed “historians”, activists, and even elected officials to exploit this national tragedy by using it for political purposes, and as an excuse to advance their hate-filled agenda, by calling for an all-out war on the Confederate flag and our Confederate heritage, beginning with the removal of the flag from a Veterans’ memorial on the Capitol grounds in South Carolina, over 100 miles away. These blatant attempts to incite violence and further divide the citizens of this country are despicable, and The Virginia Flaggers call on all those of Southern ancestry to resist any and all endeavors to use this tragedy as a platform to erase our history and attack the honor of our Confederate veterans.

We have received several requests for interviews by national media outlets, but at this time, feel strongly that media attention, and that of the entire country, should be focused on honoring the memory of those who were killed, supporting their families and friends in their time of grief, and securing swift and severe punishment for those responsible. For this reason, and for a brief time, we will observe a moratorium on public interviews or media appearances on this subject, as a courtesy to the victims’ loved ones, and in reverence to the memory of those whose lives were cut short in the shooting."