Obama is about to eulogize one of the victims of the Charleston shooting

The president will speak at the funeral for South Carolina State Sen. Clementa Pinckney (D), who was one of nine people shot last week at a historic black church in Charleston.

In a statement from the White House after the shooting, Obama said he and Vice President Joe Biden knew Pinckney personally.

Biden and his wife Jill Biden said in a statement following the shooting that Pinckney's death hit them hard.

"He was a good man, a man of faith, a man of service who carried forward Mother Emaunel's legacy as a sacred place promoting freedom, equality, and justice," the statement said.

Pinckney was a longtime state lawmaker and pastor. He was first elected to the South Carolina state house at 23, and won a Senate seat at 27.

Dylann Roof, the man who police suspect in the shooting, reportedly asked for the pastor and sat in the bible service for around an hour before the shooting.

This is the second eulogy that Obama's given this month alone. Several weeks ago, Obama delivered a moving eulogy for Vice President Joe Biden's son former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer.

Watch the livestream below, via PBS: