Columbia city councilman apologizes for blaming children’s home fire on ‘riots’
A Columbia city councilman apologized Wednesday for linking a fire at Epworth Children’s Home to weekend rioting in downtown, blaming fatigue for what he called “a complete and utter slip-up.”
Councilman Will Brennan, who represents the Millwood Avenue area where the Methodist children’s home was damaged by a fire on Tuesday, put out a call on social media for donations to replace supplies lost in the fire.
But the post said the home’s storage area “was burned down in the riots over the weekend.” Actually, the fire started days after protests against the police killing of George Floyd turned violent in downtown Columbia. Columbia Fire Department has said the blaze at Epworth was caused by an electrical fire in an air unit on the building’s roof.
Brennan quickly corrected the post Wednesday morning and issued an apology for the mistake.
“Although that is not an excuse, it certainly wasn’t meant to be malicious, or place blame on anyone,” Brennan wrote on Facebook. “Trying to help and fix many things right now — hence the slip. I am extremely sorry.”
Talking to The State, Brennan blamed the post on the crush of information coming since rioting damaged multiple businesses in downtown Columbia and set police cars on fire Saturday. Brennan said council members were reviewing information about the weekend damage in a meeting Tuesday as he was receiving updates about the ongoing fire at Epworth, and he later conflated the two when he published his plea to help the children’s home.
“It was just a complete and utter slip-up,” he said.
Epworth reported losing an untold amount of clothes, bedding, bathroom items and other supplies when the fire broke out Tuesday afternoon, and asked for donations from an online list of needs. No one was harmed in the fire.
Following weekend clashes with the police, more peaceful rallies have continued daily at the S.C. State House denouncing police brutality and racial inequities in the criminal justice system.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 1:13 PM.
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