What do SC protesters want? Here’s some of the demands they have
Hundreds of protesters poured from the Governor’s Mansion to the State House in Columbia on Friday, calling for an end to police violence and misconduct — and providing a detailed list of demands that was accepted by one of the state’s top lawmakers.
Organizers of the I Can’t Breathe SC campaign, which also organized protests at the State House earlier this week, were bolstered by support from one of the largest crowds to demonstrate all week, including many members of the University of South Carolina football team.
Starting the day outside the Governor’s Mansion, protesters were met with barriers that formed a perimeter at the complex. Though Gov. Henry McMaster was not there, organizers still read a partial list of demands, before leading a march down Main Street and to the State House, were they were met by state Rep. Todd Rutherford, the minority leader for Democrats in the House.
On the steps of the State House, protesters once again read their demands, an eight-point list covering comprehensive police reform measures. Among them:
▪ Expanded body camera use for police officers when interacting with civilians
▪ Banning the use of military-grade equipment and weaponry by law enforcement
▪ Investments in implicit bias and community-focused social training for all officers
▪ Required deescalation training and protocols for all police officers
▪ Ending fees and fines for low-income individuals in the criminal justice system
▪ More protection from civil asset forfeiture by law enforcement
▪ Requiring police departments to pay for lawsuits out of their own budget
▪ Requiring police officers to intervene when they see other officers using excessive force
“It was a collective of lawyers and policymakers around South Carolina, volunteers and ordinary people who just came together and put in their input,” organizer Lawrence Nathaniel said of how the list of demands was crafted, also citing the “8 Can’t Wait” police reform movement.
Speaking to the crowd, Rutherford said he accepted the demands and added a ninth point — “Stop telling us it’s just a couple of bad apples ... ladies and gentlemen, this is a systematic problem,” he said.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Rutherford added that he was surprised at “how well thought out” the demands were and listed civil forfeiture in particular as an issue he believes needs to be addressed right away.
How quickly any of the demands can be addressed is unclear, however. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak and the virus’ unknown impact on state revenues, the Legislature isn’t set to return to adopt a new budget until September. However, lawmakers are set to return to Columbia at the month’s end to deal with the federal aid granted to the state because of COVID-19.
Rutherford acknowledged that difficulty, urging protesters to not stop. He and other black legislators are also discussing how they might implement reforms, and he called for a bipartisan solution to the outrage that has swept the nation after George Floyd died while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The encounter, and Floyd repeatedly saying he could not breathe, was captured on video, which showed an officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
“This is not a Democratic problem, not a Republican problem, this is a problem for humanity,” Rutherford said. “These crowds will not materialize if it’s just a bunch of Democrats, or a bunch of Republicans, or a bunch of black people. This is people that are saying, ‘I can’t watch this anymore.’ This is people watching a video of a man die on TV and wondering why the police did nothing to stop it, and people are sick and tired of it, and they should be.”
Friday’s peaceful gathering was one of the largest the capital city has had over the past seven days of protests. Organizers repeatedly called for people to not shout obscenities or antagonize the police, and a large portion of the crowd dispersed shortly after the demands were read aloud at the State House.
“We have to change the perspective, in which protest has in America’s eyes, because when they hear protests, they think looting, they think burning, they think violence. But that’s not what protest means — protest is a right that every American has. Every American has the right to protest, and we’re trying to change the culture and the perception of people watching us right now, we are peaceful and we are peace facilitators,” Demetris Hill, another organizer protester, said.
Elected officials, including McMaster, have repeatedly said that peaceful protest is welcome in South Carolina. But on Friday, protesters expressed dissatisfaction with McMaster. Outside the Governor’s Mansion, one demonstrator called for him to resign, to loud cheers. Rutherford also took a thinly veiled shot at him in his speech, asking for any protesters that had been paid to raise their hands. McMaster suggested on a call with President Donald Trump that protesters and looters may have been paid.
This story was originally published June 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
