Presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley on Wednesday will head to the Palmetto State to pay his respects to the late state Senator Clementa Pinckney, according to a legislative aide familiar with the governor¹s plans.
The trip will be short as the former Democratic Maryland governor is scheduled to arrive in Columbia midday and will head directly to the State House. O’Malley plans to pay his respects to the senator, who was shot and killed along with eight others in the Charleston church massacre last week, and fly out after an hour.
A group of state senators and representatives will accompany a horse-drawn caisson carrying the body of Pinckney through Columbia as they walk down Main Street to the capitol. Senator Pinckney will lie in state from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.
As the controversy surrounding the Confederate flag continues to boil here in the humid heat of South Carolina, the chamber in which Pinckney once served voted Tuesday to head into a special session to consider removing the flag from state grounds.
In the meantime, the Confederate flag will continue to fly over the State House as Pinckney lies in state.
