A federal magistrate entered not guilty pleas on 33 federal charges, including for hate crimes, for a white man accused of gunning down nine parishioners at a black church in Charleston.

The suspect in the South Carolina church shootings is expected in court for a hearing on whether documents will be released to the news media.

The controversial flag has been removed from the statehouse grounds and will be placed in a nearby museum.

A drinking buddy of the white man accused of killing nine people at a Charleston church says the suspect told him a week earlier that he planned to shoot up a college campus in the city.