President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will travel to the funeral services of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the pastor shot and killed in the Charleston, South Carolina church shooting with eight other members of his congregation.
Obama is to deliver the eulogy for the service, according to the White House press office. More details are expected in the coming days.
The president has responded personally to the shooting, saying both he and Michelle Obama knew Pinckney as well as other members of the church.
“Any death of this sort is a tragedy. Any shooting involving multiple victims is a tragedy,” Obama said on Thursday after the shooting. “There is something particularly heartbreaking about the death happening in a place in which we seek solace and we seek peace, in a place of worship.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, Obama has used the tragic event to talk about gun control and race in America during a number of speeches to supporters.
“[I]t’s not enough for us to express sympathy – we have to take action,” he told supporters in California. “And it is not going to happen in this Congress, but we have to stay on it so that it does.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.