Clementia C. Pinckney

People

Clementa C. Pinckney

Outcome

unknown

Reverend Clementa Carlos Pinckney (July 30, 1973 – June 17, 2015) was the senior pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and a South Carolina State Senator representing District 45 who was assassinated along with eight other congregants during a Wednesday night Bible study session by white supremacist Dylann Roof. At 41 years old, Pinckney was specifically targeted by the gunman, who asked for him by name upon entering the church. Roof later confessed that he targeted Emanuel AME because of its historical significance and Pinckney's prominent role in the African American community. Pinckney had spent earlier that day campaigning with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Charleston before leading the evening Bible study where he was killed. Clementa Pinckney was born on July 30, 1973, in Beaufort, South Carolina, the middle child in a family with six siblings. He demonstrated an early calling to ministry, beginning to preach at age thirteen and becoming an ordained pastor at age eighteen. Ministry ran deep in his family—four generations on his mother's side had served as pastors in AME churches. Pinckney graduated magna cum laude from Allen University in 1995, earned a Master's degree in public administration from the University of South Carolina in 1999, and completed his Master of Divinity at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 2008. In 1996, at age twenty-three, Pinckney became the youngest African American ever elected to the South Carolina General Assembly when he won a seat in the State House of Representatives. In 2000, at twenty-seven, he became the youngest African American elected to the State Senate. He represented District 45, which included portions of Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper counties. In the legislature, Pinckney worked closely with Congressman Jim Clyburn and helped secure federal stimulus funding for South Carolina following the 2008 economic collapse. He also advocated for police body camera legislation following the April 2015 killing of Walter Scott in North Charleston. Pinckney became pastor of Emanuel AME Church—one of the oldest Black congregations in the Southern United States, with roots dating to 1816—in 2010. In this role, he oversaw seventeen churches in the Charleston area. He viewed his ministry and political work as complementary, following in the tradition of AME leaders like Reverend Richard H. Cain who combined pastoral duties with political activism. On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof entered Emanuel AME Church and was welcomed by the congregation to join their Bible study. After sitting with the group for nearly an hour, Roof opened fire during the closing prayer. He shot Pinckney first, then continued firing more than 70 rounds. Pinckney's wife Jennifer and their daughter survived by hiding in a room adjacent to the fellowship hall. On June 24, 2015, Pinckney became the first African American to lie in state at the South Carolina State House. President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy at Pinckney's funeral on June 26, 2015, at the College of Charleston's TD Arena before approximately 5,000 attendees, memorably leading the congregation in singing "Amazing Grace." On August 8, 2019, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recognized Pinckney and the Emanuel Nine as martyrs on their liturgical calendar and declared June 17 a day of repentance.