“Post 15 is under attack.” What’s happening to the American Legion in Sumter?
Sitting in near total darkness, Shawn Custer, of South Carolina’s American Legion Post 15 in Sumter, peered through the blinds.
“I’ve gotten a little bit sick, they might be putting some chem warfare on us,” Custer warned, filming himself in a video he posted to Facebook on Aug. 22.
Along with some volunteers he’d been checking the security of Sumter’s American Legion Post.
“I’ve been outside, going around hiding in different bushes, tires, garbage cans. Can’t let ‘em sneak up on us. We have control of the buildings and plan to keep control of the buildings,” Custer said.
Just days before, Post 15’s charter had been suspended by the statewide leadership of the American Legion. It was a devastating blow for the proud organization, which had spent four months tearing itself apart over allegations of financial mismanagement. The result was the overthrow of the post’s leadership leading to confusion over who is in charge.
On Aug. 13, the American Legion Department of South Carolina suspended Post 15’s charter following an investigation.
But the chaos has only continued. Doors were locked, bank accounts were inaccessible, boy scouts were told to go home and the county fair was in jeopardy. Stallholders at a farmers market hosted by the post said that they were caught between different factions, unsure who to pay.
Now, the South Carolina department has filed a lawsuit against the Sumter post seeking to take control of the post’s assets.
The lawsuit has drawn opposition from post members behind the leadership overthrow, who maintain that they post’s best interests at heart.
For their part, the rebels have argued in statements and legal filings that they were simply trying to protect the post. Now, they say that they don’t have access to the tools – including bank accounts and webpages – needed to make the organization run.
But the state legion has argued that they are simply trying to restore order to a confusing situation where tempers are running high.
“The American Legion has never had to file a lawsuit against any Post in South Carolina. Unfortunately, the actions of a few members forced it to do so here,” said Brian Barnwell, an attorney for the American Legion Department of South Carolina. “The American Legion has a duty to protect the assets and reputation of Post 15 so that it can continue to provide valuable services to the Sumter Community.”
Why was the Sumter American Legion’s charter suspended?
Trouble began earlier this year when a faction of members accused American Legion Post 15’s leadership of financial mismanagement as well as a failure to follow election by-laws, according to court records.
Post 15 is a hub of community activity in the military-friendly Sumter community. Shaw Air Force Base sits just outside the city and Sumter County has the most veterans per capita in the state.
The post serves more than just veterans. The Post 15 baseball team has won 13 state championships. In addition to providing services to veterans, the post awards scholarships, hosts community events and a farmers market and runs the county fair.
The post owns property worth roughly $4 million and in 2023 it brought in approximately $500,000 in revenue, according to tax records.
An election scheduled for July never took place, and a group of members would come to see the sitting leadership as illegitimate. Both sides had begun to spread allegations of “malfeasance” around Sumter and to the state and national American Legion headquarters, according to the legion’s complaint.
On July 15, the state American Legion launched an investigation to sort through the mess. But before the investigative committee could finish reviewing the evidence, a group of rebellious members convened a “special meeting” at a local restaurant to vote out Post 15’s leadership. At another meeting, the rebels would declare they had a “quorum,” and voted in new leaders: Cecil McCaskill, William Gamble and Shawn Custer.
Lawyers for McCaskill, Gamble and Custer did not respond to requests for comment from The State.
Custer told TV station WIS that four members of leadership took over the Post’s bank account and were refusing to pay bills or upkeep.
The previous leadership did not give up without a fight. Meeting minutes from Aug. 14 taken by Custer state that ousted leaders Dorian Brunson and husband and wife Cleo and Quint Klopfleish showed up with local police. In his minutes, Custer wrote that Cleo Klopfliesch, who ran the Post’s social media accounts and website, told a group of Boy Scouts that they needed to leave the building.
Klopfliesch did not respond to messages from The State.
That same day, the Legion’s South Carolina leadership informed the Sumter Post that they were suspending their charter.
“For some unknown reasons, the department is not recognizing this legitimate effort of membership to preserve the heretofore untarnished image of Post 15,” McCaskill, Gamble and Custer wrote in a letter to the state American Legion organization.
Sumter County fair threatened with cancellation
After Post 15’s charter was suspended, the immediate concern was the county fair. The fair — the Sumter legion’s biggest event and moneymaker each year — just weeks away and it was unclear who was in charge.
The post office cut off access to Post 15’s mailbox. With two different groups claiming to be legitimate representatives of Post 15, the post office said they would not open the box until they got a court order, according to court records.
On the weekend of Aug. 22, the power struggled spilled over into the Sumter community at a farmer’s market held at Post 15. Three different eyewitness accounts submitted to the court allege that Custer demanded that vendors make their payments to him. Many had already paid booth fees to the previous leadership and the scene grew combative. Custer allegedly paced around and yelled at vendors, according to the accounts.
He appeared obsessed with security, according to witness accounts. One vendor said that he checked under her car. Another wrote that Custer appeared to have another man providing security for Custer who left to go check that no one was hiding in the bushes.
On the night of Aug. 22, Custer posted a video of himself wearing a black bandana, standing in the dark.
“American Legion Post 15 is under attack,” Custer warned. “We feel it’s a power play in a hope to steal our money and our buildings. We’ve got four rogue individuals that’ve taken over the bank accounts.”
“We need your help. If you can share this, spread the word,” Custer said.
As the fair grew near, some members of the community expressed their fears on social media that fair would be cancelled. But donations from members ensured that the event could go ahead, Custer told TV station WIS. After the events, some workers told TV station WLTX that their checks had bounced.
Lawyers for the state legion have said that they aren’t picking a side, and only interested in ensuring that the Sumter’s Post 15 can continue to operate. “The American Legion has a duty to protect the assets and reputation of Post 15 so that it can continue to provide valuable services to the Sumter Community. The purpose of this lawsuit is to seek the Court’s direction so that those goals can be accomplished,” said Barwell.