Obama eulogizes Charleston shooting victim Rev. Clementa Pinckney, sings Amazing Grace

U.S. President Barack Obama describedRev.ClementaPinckney as a kind, diligent man who was "able to walk in someone else's shoes, able to see through their eyes" at a funeral for the South Carolina pastor shot to death with eight others at aCharleston churchlast week.

Obama, who knew Pinckney personally,eulogized the pastor infront of a crowdof more than 5,000at an arena in downtown Charleston, recalling Pinckney'shumble influence on his communityand at one point leading the crowdin a chorus of thehymnAmazing Grace.

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"Even from a young age, people knew he was special," Obamasaid of Pinckney."He conducted himself kindly, quietly and diligently. He was full of empathy, able to walk in someone else's shoes, able to see through their eyes.That's the best thing to hope for when you're eulogized to just say somebody was a good man."

Pinckneyheadedthe historic African-American Emanuel AME Church and was also a state senator. He was takingpartin a bible study on June 17 whena gunman entered the church, joined the bible study for an hour before opening fire, killing Pinckney and seven other parishoners. One person died later in hospital.

Obama acknowledged those other victims in his eulogy.

"To the families of the fallen, our nation shares in your grief," he said.

'Aflag did not commit these murders'

Dylann Roof, 21, has been charged with nine counts of murder in connection with the shooting. He has been linkedto a websitewith numerous racist writings and images, including ones showing him holding a Confederate flag, a Civil War-era battle flagseen by many as a racist symbol of the slave-owning American South.

Politicians and civil rights activists have called for the flag to be removed from governmentbuildings and other institutions in South Carolina and elsewhere in the wake of the shooting while other's have insisted it is an important part of the history of the American south. Obama alluded to that controversy at the funeral Friday.

"It's true a flag did not commit these murders" he said."Theflag has always represented more than ancestral pride. For many, black and white, that flag was a reminder of oppression and racial subjugation.

"For too long, we were blind to the pain that the Confederate flag stirred in too many of our citizens."

The president acknowledged that racism can't be solved by debate and thatsolutions will always be imperfect.

"There's no shortcut. We don't need more talk," Obama said. "Whatever solutions we find will be necessarily incomplete."

Joe Biden, HillaryClintonin attendance

Obamaarrived in Charleston Friday afternoon, several hoursafter addressing the nation from the White House Rose Garden about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states.

Other speakers at the funeral praisedPinckney'spersonal touch andhis political reach.

"We will see the Confederate flag come down.You're the one who did it." said South Carolina statesenatorGerald Malloy. "Do not let race, religion or politics close the door that SenatorPinckney opened."

Bishop John Richard Bryant spoke to the congregation about Roofand his effect on the South Carolina community and the country at large.

"He wanted to start a race war, but he came to the wrong place," said Bryant. "Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning."

MichelleObamaand Vice-President JoeBidenand his wife,Jill, also attended the service, as didHouse Speaker John Boehner,Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and other state and federal politicians and civil rightsactivists, includingMartin Luther King III.