Miami: The nine black victims massacred by a white man in a church in the US city of Charleston were remembered Wednesday in a ceremony renaming the area around the church.
The bells rang repeatedly at the beginning of the event in front of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, often referred to lovingly as "Mother Emanuel."
Victims' relatives and city and religious leaders held hands at times as the portion of Calhoun Street in front of the church was renamed the "Mother Emanuel Way Memorial District."
Dylann Roof, 21, is accused of killing nine parishioners at the iconic black church on June 17.
"This is not just a church. It's more than a church. It's a memorial. It's a monument to all we have seen and observed and felt since then," Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said.
"What happened here at Mother Emanuel back in the summer has changed this church, this city, this state and this nation forever," said Charleston City Councilman William Dudley Gregorie, who had proposed the renaming, unanimously approved by the city council.
Roof faces both state and federal charges, and South Carolina prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.
