South Carolina’s Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge was flooded with an estimated 20,000 people who came together on Sunday evening to march in solidarity for last week’s massacre inside a local church.
Men, women, and children of all races were seen holding hands, carrying American flags, and chanting “Charleston Strong" during the Bridge to Peace walk.
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Carl Ritchie led the walk with activist Jay Johnson, who had a big message about unity.
“When you hear about Charleston, SC, you have us mistaken. We are united as the human race,” Johnson told marchers at point in the evening and receiving tons of applause. “It’s not black lives that matter anymore, all lives matter.”
Community members were taken aback by the overwhelming turnout, including one who tweeted, “So encouraging the way this city has responded to such horror and tragedy.”
The walk comes days after a 21-year-old white gunman, Dylann Roof, entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on June 17 and murdered nine of the church members — Rev. Clementa Pinckney, recent college grad Tywanza Sanders, Ethel Lance, librarian Cynthia Hurd, Rev. Sharonda Singleton, Myra Thompson, Susie Jackson, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, and Rev. Daniel L. Simmons Sr.
Roof was arrested the following day and charged with nine counts of murder. When the families of the victims were given the chance to speak to him, many offered words of forgiveness.
“We have no room for hate, so we have to forgive,” said one woman.
Listen to Jay Johnson's speech below and please SHARE this powerful moment.
