Confederate flag live: South Carolina Senate approves removal from State House

The flag could come down within days

(AP Images)

The South Carolina House of Representatives has approved taking down the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds and placing it in a museum instead.

The move early Thursday came after more than 13 hours of contentious debate. It also came just weeks after the fatal shootings of nine black church members, including a state senator, at a Bible study group in Charleston.

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The House approved the Senate bill 93-27, and still has one more vote that appeared to be perfunctory since they had met two-thirds approval. The bill would then go to Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, who supports it.

It is a stunning reversal in a state that was the first to leave the Union in 1860 and raised the flag again at its Statehouse more than 50 years ago to protest the civil rights movement.

It could come down within days.

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Additional reporting from Associated Press