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Walmart drops Confederate flag merchandise in wake of Charleston shooting

US retail giant will no longer stock the Confederate related items after nine African Americans were killed last week

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The Independent US
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Walmart has said it will no longer stock confederacy flags or merchandise Getty

One of the United States’ largest retailers has announced it will no longer stock Confederate flags in the wake of the Charleston shooting last week.

Walmart, the world’s largest company by revenue, will also remove all Confederacy-related items from its thousands of stores across the US.

The decision follows South Carolina’s governor Nikki Haley announcement yesterday that she intended to remove the Confederacy flag from all local state buildings, where it still flies.

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The Confederate Flag flies over the Capitol in South Carolina

Walmart previously stocked a range of Confederacy-stamped merchandise, including t-shirts and belt buckles, but in a statement to CNN the company said it did not wish to “offend” anyone.

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Walmart spokesman Brian Nick said: "We never want to offend anyone with the products that we offer. We have taken steps to remove all items promoting the Confederate flag from our assortment - whether in our stores or on our web site”.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting of nine African American individuals at the historically black Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston by 21-year-old Dylann Roof, who has confessed to the crime, debate gathered at the continued use of flags.

Pictures emerging on the internet show Roof waving a Confederate flag while holding a gun, fuelling criticism over the continued use of the flag from the American Civil War.

In pictures: Charleston Church Shooting

In pictures: Charleston Church Shooting

  • 1/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    The church held its first service since a mass shooting left nine people dead during a bible study

    Reuters

  • 2/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Parishioners embrace before services at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina

    Reuters

  • 3/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    The sun rises behind the historic Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Church elders decided to hold the regularly scheduled Sunday school and worship service as they continue to grieve the death of nine of its members and its pastor

    Getty

  • 4/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    A bicyclist rides in front of the Emanuel AME Church before the first worship service since nine people were fatally shot during a Bible study group, in Charleston

    AP

  • 5/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    People arrive for Sunday services at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The African-American church in the southern US city of Charleston where nine people were slain by a white gunman re-opened for services the same day. Dylann Roof, 21, was charged 19 June with murdering nine people during Bible study

    EPA

  • 6/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Church member Kevin Polite, right, helps members into the church, in Charleston, S.C

    AP

  • 7/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    A police officer and his tracking dog pass the memorial site outside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. The African-American church in the southern US city of Charleston where nine people were slain by a white gunman will re-open for services the same day, local media reported

    EPA

  • 8/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Television news crews set up temporary studios across the street from the Emanuel African Methodist Church before the Sunday service in Charleston, South Carolina. Church elders decided to hold the regularly scheduled Sunday school and worship service as they continue to grieve the death of nine of its members and its pastor

    Getty

  • 9/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Walter Jackson, left, holds a photo of his mother Susie Jackson, one of the nine people killed in shooting at Emanuel AME Church

    AP

  • 10/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    People attend a vigil at TD Arena for victims of the Charleston church shooting

    GETTY

  • 11/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Mourners gather outside of Emauel AME church

    AP

  • 12/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Hundreds rallied in support of the nine people shot dead at Emanuel African Methodist Church

    Getty

  • 13/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Mourners pray and lay flowers during a community service for victims of the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church

    Getty Images

  • 14/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Gary and Aurelia Washington, center left and right, the son and granddaughter of Ethel Lance who died in the shooting, leave a sidewalk memorial in front of Emanuel AME Church comforted by fellow family members

  • 15/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Curtis Clayton holds a sign protesting racism after the fatal shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston

  • 16/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Mourners light candles for the nine victims of the shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston

  • 17/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Charleston shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof is escorted from the Cleveland County Courthouse in Shelby

    AP

  • 18/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Rev Al Sharpton holds a group prayer outside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church where nine people were killed

    Getty Images

  • 19/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Worshippers in Charleston, South Carolina, across the street from Emanuel AME Church, where six women and three men were shot dead

    AP

  • 20/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    A passing motorist looks out her window as she stops at an intersection down the street from the Emanuel AME Church

  • 21/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Surreace Cox, of North Charleston, holds a sign during a prayer vigil down the street from the Emanuel AME Church

  • 22/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    A police officer uses a flashlight while searching the area following a shooting in Charleston

  • 23/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Police talk to a man outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting

  • 24/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    The steeple of Emanuel AME Church is visible as police close off a section of Calhoun Street following a shooting in Charleston

  • 25/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    A visitor contemplates floral tributes close to the church where a white man shot dead nine black people at a Bible study class

    AP

  • 26/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen, center, addresses the media while joined by Mayor Joseph Riley, right, down the street from the Emanuel AME Church, following a shooting in Charleston

  • 27/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    A man reacts while talking to police officer near the scene of shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston

  • 28/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    An armed police officer moves up Calhoun Street following a shooting

  • 29/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    An impromptu prayer

    Twitter/David Goldman/AP

  • 30/30 Charleston Church Shootings

    A man kneels across the street from where police gather outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday

    AP

 

The flag, most strongly associated with the seven states that seceded from the north in favour of continuing slavery provoking the American Civil War, has become widely associated with racism.

Many American commentators – including political figures such as US president Barack Obama and some presidential candidates for 2016 – have called for the flag to be retired to museums.

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