SLED Chief angered over George Floyd killing, says he’ll meet with protesters
One of South Carolina’s top police officers and an influential figure in the state’s police policy called a former Minneapolis police officer charged with the killing of a black man a “criminal” and “rogue cop” and said he sympathized with protesters’ anger stemming from the death.
“When I saw this George Floyd incident, it made me sick,” said Chief Mark Keel, head of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. “It made me sick to my stomach.”
Floyd, a 46-year-old black Minneapolis man, died after former city police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck while he was face down and handcuffed for over eight minutes. Chauvin was charged with murder. Floyd’s death sparked protests that are still ongoing in Columbia, across South Carolina and nationwide.
In an interview with The State, Keel, who’s been in law enforcement since the late 1970s and SLED’s chief since 2011, said he understands the anger and frustration that are being expressed by protesters who mobilized after video showing police detaining Floyd surfaced.
“Every time I see it, it makes me angry,” Keel said. “Every officer should see it, and if they don’t don’t get sick or angry, they should turn over their badge today.”
Keel said he’s angered not only by the killing but by the damage that one officer’s actions have done to police across the United States.
“All we have is our integrity and our reputations,” Keel said about police. “It’s not something that is given to us or something we inherit. It’s something we work at every day.
“I’ve always said that the only person that could take that away from us is ourselves. ... I see one rogue cop, one criminal that manages to steal that from law enforcement across this country.”
Protesters, initially rallied by Floyd’s death, have decried systemic racism and injustice.
For at least one of the more vocal protesters who has been at Columbia’s demonstrations, Keel and other police saying they sympathize with the protesters rings hollow.
“I think it’s something they’re designed to say to calm things down,” said Tyrell Westbury, who guided protesters’ marches through downtown Columbia on Sunday. “I don’t think they’re genuine when they say it.”
Lawrence Nathaniel, who, through the group called I Can’t Breath, has helped organize demonstrations across South Carolina and has been a prominent protester at the Columbia rallies, said that if Keel wants to really show his sympathy for the protesters, he should meet with them and “take a knee with us.”
“That would change the attitude of a lot of us,” Nathaniel said.
In other states, police have knelt when confronted by protesters as a sign of solidarity and respect for peaceful demonstrations.
Keel said during his interview with The State he would “absolutely” meet with protesters.
“I’m more than happy to sit down and communicate with them,” Keel said.