Boone Hall in Mount Pleasant will not host the Battle of Secessionville Civil War re-enactment planned for November because it would happen too soon after the shooting deaths of nine people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, a spokesman for the plantation said Tuesday.

“We gave this decision very serious consideration and after consulting with community leaders and discussing this with event Chairman Randy Burbage, we decided to show honor and respect to the victims of the recent tragedy and give the community time to heal,” Rick Benthall, Boone Hall marketing director, said in a statement emailed Tuesday.

“It was a difficult decision as Boone Hall’s association with this event has been long standing, but one we made and think is best on behalf of Boone Hall and the Charleston community at this time,” Benthall said.

This would have been the 25th anniversary of the three-day event that draws hundreds from around the country, Burbage said. The Confederate Heritage Trust Inc. sponsors the re-enactment.

Burbage said he got the news Monday in a meeting with Boone Hall management.

“We had a long heartfelt discussion. They (Boone Hall) decided it was best for the community not to have their event this year,” he said.

The decision hit him hard, Burbage said.

“I feel like a member of my family died. I was pretty down in the dumps yesterday. I’ve just got to move on with things. I’m not mad with Boone Hall. It’s certainly a difficult decision for them to make. I certainly have to respect their opinion on what to do because it’s their property,” he said.

Burbage said it’s not likely the re-enactment will happen somewhere else this year.

“At this point we don’t know what we are going to do. It’s only a few months out and the logistics of it with that many people involved would be a nightmare. We’re just going to plan for next year,” he said.

A federal indictment returned last month alleged that Dylann Roof, 21, of Eastover carried out one of the deadliest racially-motivated hate crimes since the Civil Rights era by targeting 12 black people, including three survivors, at Mother Emanuel. Local police said that Roof, who is white, made racially-charged comments during the attack that happened during a Bible study group that he attended on June 17.

Prior to the attack, Roof posted photos of himself on the website LastRhodesian.net that included him aiming a handgun at the camera and posing with the Confederate flag. In one picture, he is in a slave cabin at Boone Hall. In another, he poses in front of an historic marker on Sullivan’s Island that describes the major role of the island in the slave trade.

NAACP Charleston Branch President Dot Scott welcomed news of Boone Hall’s decision to not host the re-enactment.

“We are grateful. We think that it’s appropriate in terms of not following through with the re-enactment, particularly in light of what we’ve been dealing with for the last couple of months,” Scott said.

“I think it goes a long way toward the healing of our community and our state, as well,” she said.

The Battle of Secessionville took place on June 16, 1862, at Fort Lamar on James Island. The Confederates’ victory over Union forces in the largest battle fought in South Carolina kept the Union from establishing a point on James Island from which to bombard Charleston.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or Twitter.com/prentissfindlay.