Obama eulogy as thousands mourn Charleston pastor

Thousands of mourners gathered today in Charleston to honor a pastor who was among nine black people gunned down last week in his church by a white alleged supremacist in an attack that shocked America.
President Barack Obama was to give the eulogy for Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator in South Carolina, in a speech to be watched closely in a nation still reeling from a violent act meant to tear open its racial divide.
The city of Charleston has tried to come together after the killings, and 6,000 people gathered for the ceremony at a university arena a short distance from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the scene of the crime.

The young man charged with the murders, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, published a white supremacist manifesto before the attack, including pictures of him with the controversial Confederate flag, seen by many as a symbol of hate.
"He wanted to start a race war but he came to the wrong place," church Bishop John Richard Bryant told mourners, eliciting cheers.
Some arrived in the early hours under a blistering summer sun, forming long lines and anxious to secure seats for the event.

"We need to come together," said 66-year-old Rose Marie Manigault, who made the short trip from Mount Pleasant to pick her spot just before dawn broke over the gathering throng.

Pinckney's widow Jennifer and his daughter Malana wrote messages of remembrance in the program.
"We believe that your life mattered. It mattered to us, and it will forever change the culture and mindset of the world," said his wife.
"I love you so much!" wrote Malana.