Black SC lawmakers call for policing reforms as George Floyd protests enter Day 5
Against the backdrop of chants to end police brutality and the intermittent orchestra of car horns in support of protesters, the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus called for justice and sustained action so that the deaths of black men and women never happen again.
The caucus called for better policing and accountability. Members demanded movement on hate crimes legislation. And they called on Gov. Henry McMaster to form a task force — similar to his COVID-19 group, Accelerate S.C. — to tackle police reforms.
“This is a trying time in our history,” said caucus chairman and Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg. “Racism permeates in our society as it has for centuries. The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is just the latest instance of racist violence taking away a black life. Before George Floyd there was Breonna Taylor in Kentucky; Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia; Eric Garner in New York; Alton Sterling in Louisiana; Sandra Bland in Texas, and here in South Carolina, Walter Scott.”
Govan said the cost of racism is clear, and as a result people are angry and outraged.
Columbia entered its fifth day of protests outside of the State House on Wednesday, as calls intensified in part to hold four Minneapolis police officers accountable for the death of George Floyd, who died on May 25 after an officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. All four police officers now face charges, and charges were upgraded on Wednesday for the officer who pressed his knee down on Floyd’s neck, Derek Chauvin, The Associated Press reported.
The protests in Columbia have largely been peaceful, centered around the state’s Capitol. State leaders said Wednesday they remain hopeful the protests stay that way after businesses were broken into and damaged over the weekend, and police officers fired tear gas and non-lethal bullets into crowds.
The rioters, Govan said, represent “a few bad apples.” Similarly, racist police officers in law enforcement do too, he said.
“When do they get to decide that they get to shoot at people that look like me, people that are protesting,” said House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland. “What are the guidelines for any mayor to decide that we’re going to have a curfew, and at that moment the police get to shoot tear gas or shoot rubber bullets or beanbags ... ? ... I want to talk about the number of people that look like me that continue to get shot and abused by the police.”
State Sen. John Scott, D-Richland, said Wednesday the time is “now” to make changes, adding that it isn’t just the responsibility of the governor — lawmakers have a role to play in the legislative process.
The Black Caucus members said the state can start by fully funding a state law mandating body cameras for all S.C. police officers, legislation that then-Gov. Nikki Haley signed into law after a white North Charleston police officer, Michael Slager, shot and killed Walter Scott in 2015 as Scott was running. Two years later, Slager was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
And the caucus renewed its calls for the state to pass hate crime legislation five years after nine black churchgoers, including a state senator, were killed at Charleston’s historic Emanuel AME Church by a white supremacist.
“The young people are marching because of hate crimes,” said state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a Charleston Democrat who has sponsored hate crimes legislation. “We want young people to lead with the road map.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 5:18 PM.
