SC AG Alan Wilson says socialist group plans ‘mass resistance’ of ICE raids. Is that true?
A meeting planned for Columbia this Saturday to organize “resistance” to immigration raids in South Carolina has turned into a war of words between the organizers and the state’s top law enforcement official.
S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson wrote to the Columbia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America on Tuesday to warn them against any interference with federal or state law enforcement officers carrying out operations in South Carolina.
“While every South Carolinian has the constitutional right to peacefully assemble and advocate against government policies for which they disagree, any effort to obstruct or interfere with law enforcement will have consequences,” Wilson wrote in the letter, which was copied to Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook and Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson.
Any such interference “will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Wilson said.
Columbia DSA had announced a “Community ICE Raid Response Network” meeting at the Richland County Main Library at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. A flyer for the event promises “rights education,” “how to inform other community members,” “how to respond when you’re stopped,” and “organize effective mass resistance.”
The DSA later on Friday announced the meeting was moving to 1340 Elmwood Ave. That address is home to GROW, the “Grass Roots Organizing Workshop” that contains the S.C. Progressive Network and the Modjeska Simkins School. The DSA did not specify a reason for the move. Brett Bursey with the S.C. Progressive Network told The State the meeting had outgrown the library meeting room and needed to move to a bigger space.
The meeting comes as President Donald Trump has promised that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will launch a mass deportation effort to remove foreign migrants without authorization to stay in the United States, including raids that could potentially target schools, hospitals and churches. Moves by the new administration have sparked concern in immigrant communities and protests around the country.
The socialist group shot back at the attorney general in a letter posted online Thursday.
“Our event is simply a an educational and community-building session in a public library,” they said. “Columbia DSA absolutely condemns any any form of physical, political, and rhetorical violence. ... Organizing mass resistance simply means communicating to those in power that the people do not approve of actions made by their elected representatives. This fundamental right was valued by the Founding Fathers and centuries of patriots; it is the most American ideal of freedom.”
The letter adds that Wilson has “decided to side with this administration’s imperial and fascist agenda.”
“He has attempted to publicly intimidate us on Twitter, twice,” the DSA said. “Before issuing an official statement, he posted a copy of our flyer and fear-mongering commentary, painting us as violent endangerments to communities.”
In his letter, Wilson points to an arrest that has already been made at an immigration protest in South Carolina.
“Recent events underscore the dangers of unlawful resistance,” Wilson said in his letter. “Just last week, during an anti-deportation protest in Greenville, a demonstrator crashed a vehicle into a crowd and injured two people. This reckless disregard for public safety will not be tolerated.”
Greenville police say that as part of a demonstration Sunday in downtown Greenville, a driver attempted to do a “burnout” in his car and ended up colliding with a parked vehicle. Two women in the car were taken to a local hospital to be treated for injuries, and the driver was charged with reckless driving, driving without a license and not wearing a seat belt, TV station WYFF reported.
Wilson said his office will continue to work closely with law enforcement “to ensure the safety and security of all South Carolinians.”
Columbia DSA said it looks forward to “a civilized, mutually-beneficial dialogue with AG Wilson to discuss how we can both work together to protect all South Carolinians.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 10:33 AM.
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