High spirits, honking mark Columbia protest over COVID-19 SC business closings

For a day when coronavirus closings had thrown 26 million Americans out of work, and the COVID-19 death toll hit 50,000 citizens killed, Friday’s caravan protest against S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s mandatory business and school closings to halt the virus spread was almost a festive occasion.

Several hundred people in vans, cars and pickup trucks — hardly any of whom wore masks — drove past the State House in downtown Columbia at midday, for an hour making a circuit on city streets to pass the State House again.

They honked and leaned on their horns for an hour, so loudly that at times people couldn’t talk. From car windows, they waved flags and held placards, gave thumbs up to passersby and shot videos of reporters on the sidewalks. The day was sunny, and nearly everyone seemed to be smiling. Many had children with them.

“Our rights are essential!” shouted one woman, leaning out the cab of a pickup truck as it moved slowly up Gervais Street past the State House on its way to make another circuit and come back again.

“Stop living in fear!” shouted another driver as he started up from a stop light in front of the State House.

In interviews given to a State newspaper reporter while their cars were briefly halted, some elaborated on why they had come.

“If you don’t feel comfortable, stay at home, but don’t shut down businesses — we are going to have an economic crisis,” said Heidi Brown, a Lexington County real estate agent wearing a pink President Trump baseball hat as she drove her black SUV down Main Street.

Standing on the seat, Brown’s school-age daughter waved a large American flag out the roof skylight. If the governor were here, Brown said, she would tell him to open businesses back up and “give people a choice.” Chances of catching COVID-19 have been greatly exaggerated, and people should not be paid a lot of money to stay on unemployment, she said.

More than 340,000 South Carolinians have filed for unemployment since mid-March.

Many protesters carried placards or had soaped messages on their vehicle windows: “The Globalists Are Coming,” “Bill Gates (the billionaire supporter of vaccines and other preventive medicine) is not my God,” “Free 2 Choose,” “Reopen SC — ALL of IT!!!” and “End Government Over-Reach.”

Most flags being waved outside car windows were American flags, but there were a host of blue-and-white Trump flags and yellow Gadsden flags with “Don’t Tread on Me” and rattlesnakes on them, a few blue flags with the word “LIBERTY” and, amid the banners, two Confederate flags and two Tiger Paw Clemson flags.

The event attracted some counterprotesters, including a registered nurse who works with COVID-19 patients in a hospital and her high school daughter, Delilah Nix, 16, who was clad from head to foot in a gauzy black shroud to dramatize deaths caused by the pandemic that is sweeping the globe. Her sign read, “See you soon — Death.”

Delilah’s mother, Dee Nix, said, “I’m here to support her, and also to support South Carolinians who believe that we should not open and that we should put people over profits.”

Nix, who held a hand-lettered sign saying, “Support nurses and health care workers — stay at home!!!” added, “Gov. McMaster needs to listen to science, and to experts, before he starts opening the state. Just like President Trump, these protesters are all bluster and no substance.”

Scientists, including those of the Trump Administration, have said the coronavirus is especially dangerous. It is easily transmitted, is spread by people who don’t appear to be sick and can lead to severe respiratory problems and even death among some who are infected.

There are no vaccines or treatments. Most who die are 60 years or older, although fatalities include people of all ages. The most effective strategy to combat the disease is to prevent people from gathering together and have them keep their distance from each other, experts say.

On the State House steps, Michael LaPierre, a Republican who is running against U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in the June 9 GOP primary, held a rally that attracted, at most, several dozen people.

Robert Lampley, 59, of Lexington County, a protester who called McMaster “just another tyrant,” said he would tell the governor that he needs to stand up to the federal government and open up businesses.

“I’m still working, thank God,” said Lampley, a truck driver, “but some of the businesses we work with are hurting.”

Another protester, Cathy Tyler, 68, of Charleston County, said she would tell McMaster to “open this country. We are all adults, we know what needs to be done. We have personal responsibility in this country. We know what precautions we need to take, and for those who are at a higher risk, let them stay home. Let America go back to work. We actually need herd immunity.”

“Life is full of risks,” she said, “every time the flu comes around are we going to shut the country down? Our churches have been closed.”

Law officers said they experienced no problems. In South Carolina, “open carry” of pistols and assault rifles is banned, and no weapons were visible among the protesters.

“Everybody was peaceful,” said John Hancock, chief of the Bureau of Protective Services, the uniformed police force that provides security for the State House complex and some other state government buildings.

“Everybody was just expressing their First Amendment rights,” Hancock said. The counterprotesters posed no problem, he said.

Columbia police chief Skip Holbrook also said his department coordinated the event with rally organizers and, except for a spot of congestion, all went well. He estimated that about 150 cars took part. Organizers had hoped for a larger protest.

“They did exactly what they told us they would do, and we appreciated that,” Holbrook said.

This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 5:51 PM.