South Carolina Gov. To Sign Bill Removing Flag

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Gov. Nikki Haley says she will sign the bill removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse dome at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Haley's office didn't immediately say when the flag would be removed, but the bill requires it to happen within 24 hours of her signature.

Moments after Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster ratified the bill, Haley made the announcement that she would sign it in the Statehouse lobby that afternoon. The bill passed the state House at 1 a.m. Thursday.

The Confederate flag has flown over the Statehouse for 54 years since being put up as a protest of the Civil Rights movement.

Haley and other conservatives didn't begin a push to remove the flag until nine black churchgoers were killed in a church shooting in Charleston by a gunman who police say was motivated by racial hatred.