Black Lives Matter march in Columbia proves city can rally peacefully

Coming on the heels of a racially-tinged shooting in Columbia and the still intense emotions about the removal of the Confederate flag from the State House grounds, the capital city proved once again on Sunday night that it can have a heated protest in a peaceful manner.

A Black Lives Matter march at the S.C. State House came together rapidly, with law enforcement having a short time to prepare. The S.C. Department of Public Safety learned about the gathering Saturday evening, Lt. Kelley Hughes said.

“We just had a small amount of information,” Hughes said Monday. “During that short time of 24 hours, we weren’t sure what size crowd we were going to have.”

The rally started around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. and the crowd swelled to 800 protesters, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said. They marched through the city center, ending up at the Interstate 126 corridor into Columbia, where law enforcement refused to let them go farther.

“We ultimately kind of drew a line in the sand and would not allow them to proceed any farther,” Holbrook said. Observers saw the protesters as they reached the bridge over the Broad River just before the exit to Riverbanks Zoo.

“After a short period of time, they turned around and went back the same way they came,” Holbrook said.

Holbrook said the law enforcement presence included the Columbia Police Department, Richland County Sheriff's Department, State Law Enforcement Division, S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, S.C. Highway Patrol, S.C. Bureau of Protective Services and S.C. Transport Police.

Those last three agencies are under the umbrella of the S.C. Department of Public Safety, which Hughes said called in additional manpower and resources from the Midlands area as the protest swelled.

SLED provided helicopters for air support, Holbrook said.

Much of the march took place on the police department’s territory, with the parts on the State House grounds being handled by bureau officers. Neither agency had any arrests or reported injuries as of Monday.

Things didn’t go quite so smoothly Saturday at a Black Lives Matter rally in Greenville. Five people were arrested and a Taser was used on one person, The Greenville News reported.

But Columbia has a history of peaceful protests, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.

“I’ve been here since (1975) and we’ve never had anything where we’ve had violence and destruction of property like you see in other places,” Lott said, adding that people have a right to make their voices heard as long as they don’t behave destructively.

Lott said it’s all about building relationships – and SLED Chief Mark Keel agreed.

“It’s too late to try to create those relationships when a crisis happens,” Keel said. “If you don’t have those relationships already built, it’s too late at that point. I think we’ve been able to avert otherwise negative incidents because those relationships have been built ahead of time.”

Holbrook, who moved to Columbia about two years ago to become chief, praised the cooperation between the various law enforcement agencies and the restraint his officers showed in what he described as a sometimes-hostile environment.

“I told my folks ... I’ve never been more proud of them, and it was an honor to be amongst them last night,” Holbrook said.

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Black Lives Matter march in Columbia proves city can rally peacefully."