‘Peaceful and uplifted’ day of Columbia protest tries to get back to the message
On the third day of protests against the killing of a black man in police custody, there was no tear gas or rubber bullets, no broken windows or cars on fire.
After a raucous weekend of protests that roiled Columbia’s downtown core and led to a police crackdown, another day of demonstrations at the S.C. State House passed without a major incident. A few hundred people chanted, sang and staged a “die-in” by the Confederate Soldiers Monument on Monday afternoon, with a fairly sparse police presence.
“We’re looking for this to be peaceful,” said Tee Grier, who traveled to Monday’s protests with fellow members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at S.C. State University. “We just want to make sure everything is peaceful and uplifted.”
The more subdued protest followed a weekend of peaceful protests that descend into violence and ended with police forcefully dispersing crowds downtown as a hastily passed curfew went into effect.
Speaking with protesters around the State House as he wore a face mask, Mayor Steve Benjamin said he didn’t expect the city council would need to approve another emergency curfew after a weekend limitation for the Main Street, Vista and Five Points area expired at 6 a.m. Monday.
“They want to see justice,” Benjamin said Monday, after he spent Saturday handing out masks and water bottles to protesters, and — under very different circumstances Sunday — on the street encouraging people to disperse and go home.
“They want to see a recognition of the humanity of each and every person, and they want to see some thoughtful reforms,” the mayor said. “I did hear some unanimity around the idea of peaceful protests.”
Benjamin said he’d handed out his phone number to about 100 people. He planned to have Zoom calls with some of the organizers. He added many of the protesters’ demands were already in some ways in place with Columbia law enforcement.
Protesters held a nine-minute “die-in” along Gervais Street, symbolizing the amount of time a handcuffed African American Minneapolis man, George Floyd, can be seen on video laying on the ground with a police officer’s knee on his neck. Floyd can be heard complaining that he can’t breathe before his body goes limp. He later died, and the officer involved has been fired and charged with murder.
In Columbia on Monday, protesters continued to chant and wave signs at passing traffic, at one point marching to the African American History Monument on the State House grounds while singing “We Shall Overcome.” By late in the afternoon, state troopers amassed near the same monument in riot gear, increasing the feel of tension with the remaining protesters, at least two of whom were detained by law enforcement.
Organizer Lawrence Nathaniel said he felt his message had been heard but still had concerns about the events of the weekend.
“The city is now listening, the county is now listening,” Nathaniel said. “We just need to now open up that with our police department, sheriff department. We’re not lying about how the protests and riots actually went.”
He said the clashes were police-instigated. But he also said the dialogue was changing.
Richland County Councilwoman Allison Terracio also attended Monday’s protest. She said she visited the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on Sunday after several protesters were booked into the jail overnight. Terracio, who serves on the council committee that oversees the detention center, said the jail was operating normally while about 10 people outside alternately protested and gave people bail money.
“It’s easier to have some conversations if you’ve had those experiences,” said Terracio, who also took part in Saturday’s march to the State House. “I’ve reached out to my colleagues and counterparts, and there are so many places where we could see improvements in law enforcement or improvements at the jail.”
There were several moments Monday when organizers told protesters to go home, something that happened the day before as well. Much like Saturday, much of the crowd stayed around the state Capitol.
On one side of protest, Jennifer Lucas O’Briant operated a table giving out first aid supplies and water donated after the weekend’s clashes with police. She said someone even gave her a jug of milk — used to clean tear gas out of the eyes.
“We’re a rag-tag group trying to do what’s right,” said Mason Crowson, who offered a similar service for injured protesters outside his Washington Street bar the Aristocrat over the weekend. He hoped a station like this would keep Monday’s event calm.
On Sunday, “I talked to a gentleman who was very agitated” outside the bar, Crowson said. “After a while he said, ‘Alright, you changed my mind.’ So it can have an effect.”
Elsewhere on Monday, other leaders offered their support for change in the wake of Floyd’s death.
“The cost of racism is clear,” said S.C. Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, and chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, in a statement. “The threat that racism poses — particularly, when racism infiltrates the hearts of police officers — has been known to black people for centuries. Across the country, people are angry. We should all be outraged. Now, we must use our righteous outrage to build a better world.”
He called on the Legislature to look at reforming law enforcement practices, pass a hate crimes bill and ensure the mandate that officers wear body cameras is fully funded.
Govan also called for protests to remain nonviolent and wished a speedy recovery to the officers injured over the weekend.
Richland County Council Chairman Paul Livingston put out a statement praising law enforcement and other first responders in reaction to the weekend’s events.
“They have worked to maintain public safety and allow peaceful protesters to raise their concerns and frustrations, while exercising their First Amendment rights,” he said.
Clemson University President Jim Clements also put out a statement on the protests seen around the nation.
“Let there be no doubt: racism, injustice, violence, brutality and hatred in any form, cannot be tolerated,” he said. “We can also put into practice our Clemson values: We value the rights of others. We are respectful of each other and our individual differences, beliefs and ideas. We actively listen and communicate. We seek to understand one another’s challenges, and are tolerant and forgiving. And, we come from diverse backgrounds that make up one inclusive Clemson Family.”
University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen has also said USC plans to require incoming freshmen to go through diversity training.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 6:32 PM.
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