More arrests made connected to protests, including one out on bond on murder charge
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department and Columbia Police Department announced the arrest of twelve more people for their roles in unrest and violence that followed protests on the weekend of May 30.
Now 95 people have been arrested since the protests that were followed by damaged property, burned police cars and clashes with law enforcement. Businesses were also broken into hours after the protests and unrest.
“We’re not going to let those who participated in the riots get away with it,” Lott said.
At a Friday news conference at the sheriff’s department headquarters, Lott and Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook talked about four people arrested.
Ali Smalls, 30, is accused of throwing water bottles at officers and pushing down a police barricade, deputies said. Police charged him with two counts of aggravated breach of peace and rioting.
Court records show that Smalls was charged with murder in 2016 in Berkeley County. He was out on $150,000 bond. He was ordered to be on house arrest.
Lott pointed out a person he said was Smalls in a photo from the Columbia protests and said “that’s not his home.”
Police allege that Carlos Jenkins, 22, threw a brick that struck a woman in the face. He is charged with second degree assault and battery and rioting.
Olivia Hudgins, 20, threw water bottles at police, according to Lott, and was charged with aggravated breach of peace and rioting.
Hours after the protest and long after most of the streets were cleared, four businesses were broken into, according to police. Lott connected the break-ins with the unrest.
Leroy Bannister, 32, was charged in one of the break-ins of a jewelry store on the 10000 block of Two Notch Road, which is about 13 miles and nearly 30 minutes away from downtown Columbia where the protests and unrest unfolded. Blood from the break-in helped identify Bannister, Lott said.
Police booked those arrested at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. As of Friday, Bannister was the only person still jailed, according to records.
Protesters rose up across the U.S. in response to the death of George Floyd, a 42-year-old Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25 while in police custody.
On May 30 in Columbia, what started as a peaceful protest at the State House turned into unrest after marchers arrived at the Columbia Police Department’s headquarters on Washington Street. Rocks and water bottles were thrown at police, and three police vehicles were burned.
On May 31, police in riot gear stopped protesters who were again heading for the police department. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to stop the crowd. Marchers said their protest was peaceful and the confrontation was instigated by police.
Investigators with the sheriff’s and police departments as well as the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division have spent hours combing through social media videos, online photos and surveillance camera footage to identify people who threw objects and damaged property, Lott said. Community tips have given them an equal amount of help in identifying people.
The “community said they’re not going to tolerate that,” Lott said.
Lott emphasized that the Columbia area hasn’t had the unrest others cities have had since the late May protests. He credited a strong response from Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin as well as support for law enforcement by Columbia City Council, the city manager and Richland County Council with creating an environment that’s allowed peaceful protests to continue without unrest.
Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook reinforced Lott’s sentiment about local elected officials’ support.
“We got a little more work to do,” Holbrook said. “We’ve held to our word that we’ve held people accountable.”
Investigators have used facial recognition technology to help identify and arrest people involved with the unrest.