# Charleston, SC church shooting **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 18, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823 "2015-06-18T04:15:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/361 "2015-06-27T02:41:01Z")
> [@pool](#): > > **Baker** , There are already small online businesses that sell that stuff but yeah I bet their sales go way up , at least temporarily. > > It seems an awful lot like the Westboro Baptist Church has threatened to picket a lot more high-profile funerals but not shown up when the day actually came, unless some kind of under-the-table arrangements were made that I didn’t hear about. I guess between their patriarch Fred Phelps dying and several of their prominent younger members leaving, they’ve had a lot of the wind taken out of their sails. Doesn’t even have to be high profile. They threatened someone’s funeral near my hometown back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/362 "2015-06-27T06:36:28Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > We don’t ban films or burn books in the United States. I’ve been wondering about Huckleberry Finn. And how long to you think that policy will hold now that this wave of stupid has come about? The ball is rolling down the slope now & I laugh at those that think it will go around everything they care about and only get those things that they say are bad. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/363 "2015-07-10T15:12:19Z")
Flag is down! ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/364 "2015-07-10T15:20:37Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Flag is down! And except for some of the people in the crowd, in a very dignified manner. I was pretty surprised at that; I almost expected more of a circus. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/365 "2015-07-10T15:39:48Z")
I would have walked down but I had to be on desk; some friends were there though and they said it was exhilarating. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/366 "2015-07-10T23:55:41Z")
So, how did they take the flag down? From what I understand it wasn’t on a regular pulley system, which is why they couldn’t lower it to half-staff. Did they have to send someone up on a cherry picker? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/367 "2015-07-11T00:48:30Z")
I did see them lowering the flag via a rope & pulley, though I had heard the same as you–that there wasn’t such a system in place. Maybe they rigged one up just to lower it? They took the pole down, too, but only after they had lowered and removed the flag. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/368 "2015-07-11T13:45:58Z")
I just saw a video, and it looks like they used some sort of crank. But I’m wondering if it’s just something they set up for the day. From previous pictures I’d seen of the flag, it looked like it was just latched to the top of the pole. So far, none of the news stories I’ve read go into much detail about the mechanism used. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/369 "2015-07-11T16:56:34Z")
Maybe when they had to put up a new one after that lady took it down, they used a pulley system, full well knowing it would probably be taken down at least temporarily. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/370 "2015-07-11T17:05:21Z")
They’ve got to take the flag down _sometimes_, for cleaning or replacement if nothing else. Seems it would be a lot easier just to have a padlocked pulley system, rather than rolling out a cherry-picker every time it got old and faded. Mind, if people were taking a sensible approach to that flag, it wouldn’t have been up that pole in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823/371 "2015-07-11T17:38:32Z")
I agree, but some news outlets were stating that there was no pulley system in place for lowering the flag. Not just a locked pulley system, but no pulley system whatsoever. I heard it multiple times on CNN, FWIW. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charleston-sc-church-shooting/722823.md?page=18)