Civil rights activists to protest in Columbia over the killing of George Floyd

Two groups of activists are planning protests over the killing of George Floyd and other African Americans by police and white civilians in recent months.

The first group of protesters will meet at Columbia City Hall at 11 a.m. Saturday and will begin marching down Main Street toward the S.C. State House starting at noon. A rally at the State House will last from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., said Lawrence Nathaniel, the founder of People Demand Action.

Nathaniel is encouraging protesters to write the words “I can’t breathe” on the front of their face masks.

“We are demanding that lawmakers...create stricter hate crime laws and laws that will hold law enforcement accountable,” Nathaniel said in a news release announcing the protest.

Nathaniel has asked anyone who has health conditions to stay home because of the coronavirus.

“I can’t breathe” is a reference to the killing of Floyd, an African American man, by a white Minneapolis police officer who was seen on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck while the man struggled to breathe and later died. The phrase “I can’t breathe” has been used in protests against police brutality since the 2014 killing of New York City man Eric Garner, who also said “I can’t breathe” before going into cardiac arrest while being restrained by police.

Later in the day, there will be a second protest, starting a 5 p.m. at Earlewood Park, 1113 Recreation Dr., a separate group of activists said in a press release.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation, which will be conducting the demonstration, will lead a caravan of cars with protest signs to the State House before looping back to Earlewood Park, according to the release.

“Protesters will stay in their vehicles to adhere to social distancing guidelines,” according to the release.

The group stresses that this protest is not just about Floyd’s death. It’s also about police violence that disproportionately affects African Americans and vigilante violence that targets African Americans, a recent example being the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the African American runner whose killing at the hands of white vigilantes was captured on video, the group said.

The group had originally planned this demonstration to call for the cancellation of rent and mortgage payments during the coronavirus pandemic, group organizer Anson Foster said in a press release.

After video of Floyd’s killing surfaced, the group decided to broaden the purpose of its protest to also address the deaths of Floyd and other African Americans at the hands of police and vigilantes, according to the release.

The group sees the issues of police brutality and housing as intertwined, according to the statement.

“The right to housing is inextricably linked with racism and police violence,” Foster said in the release. “When people are evicted it is the police who can throw them out. The racist redlining of neighborhoods was enforced by police. People of color are disproportionately affected by substandard-housing conditions and evictions. When fighting for justice our struggles become stronger when linked together.”

Throughout South Carolina, state leaders have issued responses to Floyd’s death and the ensuing protests in Minneapolis and across the country.

State Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, posted a video on social media saying the police officers involved are guilty of murder.

Video of the killing is “a reminder of where we are in 2020,” Rutherford said. “This should not have happened in 1920, and here we are 100 years later dealing with life lost at the hands of those who are meant to protect us.”

He’s sponsored legislation at the State House to create use-of-force standards for S.C. police that could result in a police officer serving up to life in prison for killing someone without justification.

S.C. Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, warned on Twitter that rioting will not bring justice for Floyd. In some states, protests over Floyd’s death have been followed by deadly riots.

“I’ll say it again: rioting and tearing up a city doesn’t do anyone any good,” Bamberg, an attorney, wrote. “It doesn’t help a family get justice, and it doesn’t make anyone listen to your voice anymore than they were before — if anything, it’ll make your oppressors ignore you that much harder.”

Instead, he urged activists to focus on making changes through voting, economic empowerment and working to “help our youth become the lawyers, judges, prosecutors, police chiefs, and police officers of tomorrow.”

In the midst of handling the city’s COVID-19 response, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin tweeted that he thought of “the dedicated first responders tarred by the abuse & violence of a few who have violated their oaths.”

“I pray for souls who cry and scream and protest as they plea to be heard—truly heard by our society,” Benjamin wrote.

This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 1:29 PM.