SC man who pointed gun at protesters sentenced to 7 days in jail
A Gaston man who pointed a gun at protesters in 2020 was sentenced to seven days in jail.
Walter Peter Matulis Jr. was arrested the day after he threatened a group that had gathered at the State House to rally against another group that was memorializing the Confederacy.
He was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm at a person, a felony that carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison. But court records show that Matulis received a sentence of seven days imprisonment and a one year suspended probation.
However, one of the seven days of his sentence was credited as time served, and a note on his record indicated that the remaining six could be served by weekends in jail beginning Sept. 30 at 5 p.m.
If Matulis completed his jail time and 40 hours of community service his probation would be terminated, according to sentencing records.
There is no record of a trial in the court documents. His court records state that his probation began on Oct. 2.
Calls to Matulis’ attorney were not returned.
On July 10, 2020, protesters gathered at the State House to rally against a group that was memorializing the Confederacy on the five-year anniversary of the Confederate flag’s removal from the capitol’s grounds.
A group of protesters were standing on the median in Gervais Street across from the State House waving signs at passing cars when they got into a confrontation with Matulis at the Main Street stoplight, protesters told The State at the time.
Protester Kamison Burgess said that Matulis, who was driving a Kia sedan, “pulled up sticking his middle finger out.”
“He stopped in the middle of the road at the green light and said ‘All lives matter,’” Burgess said.
“One of the girls, she was explaining ‘Yes, all lives matter, but they can’t matter at the moment until Black lives matter.’ “At that point in time, he drove up a little more, the light was still green, and he started fidgeting around inside his car, and he pointed a gun out at us,” Burgess said.
The Columbia Police Department arrested Matulis the next day.
This story was originally published November 5, 2022 at 3:44 PM.