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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on the pastor of a Charleston church where nine people were killed complaining about a political ad (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
A Republican candidate for a U.S. House seat says she will not remove a campaign ad even though the pastor of a South Carolina church where nine members were killed in a racist attack called it distasteful.
Sheri Few said Thursday that she is a Christian and she loves the members of Emanuel AME who mourned the June 2015 shooting during Bible study in their fellowship hall.
But she says the ad makes an important point that weak politicians — including two of her chief primary opponents — panicked when they voted to bring down the Confederate flag a month after the massacre.
Few says instead of blaming the flag, lawmakers should have blamed the deranged man with the gun.
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5:15 p.m.
The pastor of a South Carolina church where nine worshippers were killed in a racist attack says a political ad by a candidate for a U.S. House is distasteful.
The internet ad by Republican Sheri Few suggests the decision to bring down the Confederate flag after the massacre at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in June 2015 was made by weak politicians who panicked.
Few speaks while standing in front of an American flag and holding a semi-automatic rifle.
Emanuel AME Pastor Eric Manning said Thursday that the killings should never be used for political gain and he was disgusted by Few's ad.
Few is one of seven Republicans running for the seat left vacant when Mick Mulvaney became director of the Office of Management and Budget earlier this year.
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