Senators reflect on Senator Pinckney; look ahead to Confederate flag debate

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — Senators from both sides of the aisle reflected on their colleague, friend and family member, Senator Clementa Pinckney, after his body was brought to Columbia to lie in state Wednesday afternoon. Richland County Senator John Scott, Jr., a Democrat, worked with Pinckney for 25 years. Pinckney was a page when he first started. Scott spoke about seeing Pinckney’s youngest daughter Wednesday afternoon. “I’ve been trying for two years for her to come to me and today,” he says, “She came to me on her own. I was so moved with that.” Republican Lexington County Senator Katrina Shealy described the last week, though somber, as one full of love. “You see your fellow senators and you think, when you leave, I better hug you again, because you never know what’s going to happen,” she says. Besides calling Pinckney the Senate’s gentlest soul, Shealy remembers his voice. “He sounded like Barry White, and I would always say, ‘Senator Pinckney, can you sing like you talk?’ and he would say, ‘I cant sing a lick.'” Shealy saw Pinckney’s father Wednesday afternoon. “I told him that story and said, ‘can you sing?’ and he said, ‘no, and Clem couldn’t sing either.” Both Senators say the tragedy has brought them together unlike ever before. Amid deep sorrow, somehow, the legislature managed to get a budget passed. Governor Nikki Haley has until Monday to get any vetoes back to the House. The Senate’s been told they could come back as early as the 30th. If not, the next date is July 7th. After vetoes are taken care of, the next priority is the confederate flag, which neither Scott nor Shealy forsees being an uphill battle.