An honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol lowers the Confederate battle flag as it is removed from the Capitol grounds Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. The Confederate flag was lowered from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse to the cheers of thousands on Friday, ending its 54-year presence there and marking a stunning political reversal in a state where many thought the rebel banner would fly indefinitely. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Confederate flag was lowered from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse to the cheers of thousands on Friday, ending its 54-year presence there and marking a stunning political reversal in a state where many thought the rebel banner would fly indefinitely.
The turnabout seemed unthinkable before the June 17 massacre of nine black parishioners - including a state senator - at a Charleston church during a Bible study. Dylann Roof, a white man who was photographed with the Confederate flag, is charged in the shooting deaths, and authorities have called the killings a hate crime.
The massacre reignited calls to remove Confederate flags and symbols across the South and around the nation.
The crowd chanted "USA" and "hey, hey, hey, goodbye" as the flag was lowered by an honor guard of South Carolina troopers during a 6-minute ceremony. Gov. Nikki Haley stood on the Statehouse steps and did not speak, though she nodded in the direction of the crowd after someone shouted: "Thank you governor."
Two troopers rolled the flag and tied it up with a string and handed it to a black trooper who brought it to the Statehouse steps. When the trooper handed it to a state archivist, the governor clapped.
President Barack Obama tweeted minutes after the flag was down, saying it was "a sign of good will and healing and a meaningful step toward a better future." Obama delivered a eulogy at one of the funerals, for state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who was also pastor of the church where the killings took place.
A van was to take the flag to the nearby Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. There, it eventually will be housed in a multimillion-dollar shrine lawmakers promised to build as part of a deal to get a bill passed removing the flag.
South Carolina's leaders first flew the battle flag over the Statehouse dome in 1961 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. It remained there to represent official opposition to the civil rights movement.
Decades later, mass protests against the flag by those who said it was a symbol of racism and white supremacy led to a compromise in 2000 with lawmakers who insisted that it symbolized Southern heritage and states' rights. The two sides came to an agreement to move the flag from the dome to a 30-foot pole next to a Confederate monument in front of the Statehouse.
Many thought it would stay there. Now, even that flagpole will be torn down, but no timetable is set on that.
People who supported removing the flag chanted "take it down" before the ceremony and vastly outnumbered those who were upset about the move.
An honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol removes the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds in Columbia, S.C., Friday, July 10, 2015, ending its 54-year presence there. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
An honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol removes the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds in Columbia, S.C., Friday, July 10, 2015, ending its 54-year presence there. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A member of an honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol carries a Confederate battle flag as they remove it from the Capitol grounds Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. The Confederate flag was lowered from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse to the cheers of thousands on Friday, ending its 54-year presence there and marking a stunning political reversal in a state where many thought the rebel banner would fly indefinitely. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
An honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol removes the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. The Confederate flag was lowered from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse to the cheers of thousands on Friday, ending its 54-year presence there and marking a stunning political reversal in a state where many thought the rebel banner would fly indefinitely. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
An honor guard member from the South Carolina Highway Patrol hands the Confederate battle flag that flew in front of the Statehouse to the curator of the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum after it was taken down Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
People cheer as an honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol removes the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. The Confederate flag was lowered from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse to the cheers of thousands on Friday, ending its 54-year presence there and marking a stunning political reversal in a state where many thought the rebel banner would fly indefinitely. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A woman waves a sign as she waits for the Confederate battle flag to be removed from in front of the South Carolina Statehouse, Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill into law Thursday requiring the flag to be removed. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley hugs Rev. Norvel Goff, interim pastor at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, before an honor guard from the South Carolina Highway Patrol removed the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds, Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A police officer walks a dog on the steps of the South Carolina Statehouse as the state prepares to remove a Confederate battle flag from in front of the South Carolina Statehouse, Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill into law Thursday requiring the flag to be removed. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signs a bill into law as former South Carolina governors and officials look on Thursday, July 9, 2015, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. The law enables the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds more than 50 years after the rebel banner was raised to protest the civil rights movement. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during a ceremony where she signed a bill into law, Thursday, July 9, 2015, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. The law enables the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds more than 50 years after the rebel banner was raised to protest the civil rights movement. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A protester flies a Confederate battle flag on his truck as he drives past the South Carolina Statehouse Wednesday, July 8, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. The House is expected to debate a measure Wednesday that would remove the flag from the capitol grounds. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
The curator of the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum carries the Confederate Battle flag that flew in front of the South Carolina Statehouse past family members of people killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., as it is removed from the Capitol grounds Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
The curator of the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum carries the Confederate Battle flag that flew in front of the Statehouse as it was removed from the Capitol grounds Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)