Family member speaks about forgiveness on 8th anniversary of Mother Emanuel shooting

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- Saturday marks eight years since nine people were killed in a shooting at a historic downtown Charleston church.

On the night of June 17, 2015, worshippers were attending Bible study at Emanuel A.M.E. Church – it was just after 8:00 p.m. when the shooter walked into the church and sat with church members for about an hour before he pulled out a gun and shot nine innocent people.

Six women and three men were killed that night. State Senator Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Graham Hurd, Tywanza Sanders, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Rev. Daniel L. Simmons, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, and Myra Thompson.

“In just a few minutes, God changed my life just like that,” Rev. Anthony Thompson, who lost his wife Myra, said reflecting on that tragic night.

For Thompson, like many other family members, summing up the last eight years is not easy, but he said granting forgiveness is what ultimately helped him through the heartbreak.

“Forgiving him and other family members forgiving him made a difference in how I feel right now,” he shared.

Thompson’s path to forgiveness began when he spoke at the gunman’s bond hearing after his arrest.

“You know, I experienced a whole lot in just a few minutes,” he said. “I thought that I was up there for hours.”

Before that day in court, Thompson says he was ready to give up after losing his wife.

“I fell on the ground crying and I really couldn’t take it,” he said. “I threw in the towel and I told God ‘I’m not gonna pastor, don’t expect me to be in church on Sunday.’ I literally threw in the towel.”

But, Thompson says God would speak to him about forgiveness and when he finally decided to listen — it changed everything.

“Instantly, immediately, I was released,” he shared. “Anger, hate, everything I felt, even sadness, it was gone. I received peace like no other…it was him.”

Thompson now shares his testimony with others who are struggling both in the Lowcountry and abroad through his organization, One New Humanity Charleston, in hopes that others can find healing.

“We’re not pointing fingers,” he explained. “We’re just saying, ‘Come on and join us and let’s do this together so God can change our hearts.'”

Life is moving forward for Rev. Thompson — he recently remarried — but he says he still carries parts of Myra with him every day.

“I thought I knew how to love. I thought I was a loving person and no one could out love me,” he said. “But she taught me that there was more to it than what I knew. She was all about love.”

He says June 17 will be a day he never forgets and believes Myra would be proud of him for granting forgiveness in the face of such tragedy.

Rev. Thompson also wrote a book titled “Called to Forgive” which he says answers a lot of people’s questions about forgiveness and healing.