Racist massacre survivor urges hate crimes law in S Carolina
By Jeffrey Collins
Charleston church massacre survivor Polly Sheppard speaks in a video asking to pass a hate crimes law in the South Carolina Senate on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Supporters have urged South Carolina senators to pass a hate crimes bill in the last eight days they can take action on legislation. Backers of the bill turned Wednesday to one of the survivors of one of the most heinous racist shooting attacks in memory to press their case. They showed the Senate chamber a two-minute video Wednesday of Polly Sheppard. Sheppard says on video that legislative inaction on the measure is giving a safe haven to hate. Sheppard’s life was intentionally spared at Emanuel AME in Charleston while nine other Black parishioners were killed in 2015. South Carolina and Wyoming are the only U.S. states without hate crimes laws.
