Lawmakers hold prayer circle for Charleston victims

More than a dozen lawmakers gathered on the Capitol lawn Thursday to pray for victims of a South Carolina shooting that left nine people dead.

{mosads}”A church should be one of the safest places on the planet,” Senate Chaplain Barry Black told lawmakers, congressional staffers and dozens of others who gathered for the event, which was organized by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s (R) office. “Our hearts ache for our nation, and we pray and ask that God would somehow use us to end the insanity of violence that we see.”

The event comes after a gunman attacked the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday evening. The suspect reportedly attended the service for an hour before opening fire.

The congressional gathering comes as senators take to the Senate floor and to social media Thursday to offer their condolences to the victims and families of those killed.

“God is near to the broken-hearted, and that would match South Carolina and all of us today,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said before leading the event in prayer.

Other lawmakers at the event included Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), as well as Reps. Trey Gowdy (R), who is from South Carolina, and John Lewis (D-Ga.).

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running was president, held a rally for bolstering retiree pensions nearby at the same time of Scott’s event, with chants from the event at times overpowering speakers at the prayer circle.