Lawmakers react to Governors order removing Confederate Flags

Alabama lawmakers are backing Gov. Robert Bentley's decision Wednesday to remove the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds as an effort to remove the symbol from state government buildings has gained steam in the wake of last week's shooting at a historic black church in South Carolina.  Bentley ordered the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the Confederate memorial in Montgomery, and he partly cited the shooting deaths of nine black worshippers at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston for his decision. The shooting was allegedly committed by Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white South Carolina man who reportedly told authorities he hoped to start a race war. He also purportedly had a website that included images of him with the Confederate flag and a jacket with flags depicting apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.

Rep. Craig Ford of Gadsden, the Alabama House minority leader, took to Twitter to commend the governor, writing that The confederate flag is a symbol of our past, not our future. (Bentley) did the right thing today.  Not all lawmakers were behind the move. Alabama State Rep. Randy Wood, R-Saks, said the governor rushed the decision. "I don't see anything wrong them flying the flag. It's part of our history.