A portrait of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine killed in last week's shooting, is carried in for his wake Thursday at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. The first funerals of some of those slain began Thursday at nearby churches with a viewing for Pinckney inside Emanuel on Thursday. President Barack Obama will deliver the eulogy at Pinckney's funeral today at a nearby college arena.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The first black president of the United States is coming to Charleston to eulogize the victims of a mass shooting at a historic African-American church — a tragedy one civil rights activist said was a sign of “how far yet” the nation has to go to put racial tensions behind it.

Thousands of mourners were expected to gather today to hear President Barack Obama pay tribute to the pastor and eight parishioners of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The nine were slain at the church during a Bible study session last week in what authorities are investigating as a racially motivated attack.

Today’s service for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator, promised to be another wrenching but cathartic occasion for the community to say goodbye to the victims.

Police planned to close several streets around the college arena in downtown Charleston and said they expect anyone who wants one of the more than 5,000 seats to be there by 9 a.m. The funeral was scheduled to start two hours after.

The first two funerals, for Ethel Lance and Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, were held Thursday, with tight security and emotional responses to the eulogies and hymns.

Attendees included South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Sharpton noted on the day of the shootings, he was in Washington watching Loretta Lynch being sworn in as the nation’s first black female attorney general. “That morning, I saw how far we have come,” Sharpton said. “That night,” after the shooting, “I saw how far yet we have to go.”

Police officers stood guard and checked bags as mourners filed in for the funerals, which were held as the debate over the Confederate flag and other Old South symbols continued around the region.

A growing number of leading politicians said Civil War symbols should be removed from places of honor, despite their integral role as elements of Southern identity.

“A hateful, disillusioned young man came into the church filled with hate ... and the reaction was love,” Riley said at the funeral for Coleman-Singleton, 45. “He came in with symbols of division. The Confederate battle flag is coming down off our state Capitol.”