Why AG Alan Wilson’s comments about the No Kings protests went too far | Opinion
Thousands of South Carolinians protested President Donald Trump’s inhumane deportation and other administration policies without incident Saturday. I wouldn’t be surprised if that disappointed South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.
In statements in the days before protests in 2,100 U.S. cities and towns, Wilson seemed eager for a fight, conjuring up bogeymen in the form of “radical anti-American groups” his office was prepared to put down like rabid dogs.
“Violence, vandalism, and any attempts to intimidate or obstruct law enforcement will not be tolerated in South Carolina,” he warned. “Let me be clear: If you attack law enforcement, destroy public or private property, or endanger lives in our state, you will be arrested, charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Dude even brought back a classic from the civil rights era often used by law enforcement and elected officials opposing equality, tweeting “outside agitators are threatening to bring violence and chaos to our communities June 14.”
Though he threw in the obligatory “we fully support the right to free speech and peaceful assembly under the First Amendment,” it was clear Wilson wanted a fight, maybe to boost his likely gubernatorial campaign. Feeding red meat to his political base was more important than treating fellow South Carolinians with respect.
Wilson’s “you will be arrested, charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law” is particularly rich. Instead of threatening liberals who dared oppose Trump, the man Wilson seems to worship and wants to emulate, Wilson should have been explaining why his office decided there should have been no charges against two men who chased another man for nine miles and killed him in September 2023.
New details recently emerged in The Sun News. Weldon Boyd, the owner of a North Myrtle Beach restaurant, and his friend Kenneth “Bradley” Williams, shot Scott Spivey of Tabor City, N.C. The men had apparently gotten into a road rage incident of some sort. Spivey drove away after the initial dustup. Boyd chased Spivey in his truck for nine miles and killed him during a shootout.
With help from friends in the Horry County Police Department — for which strong evidence suggests they participated in a cover-up — Boyd and Williams concocted a story of self-defense. It’s been nearly two years without charges in part because Wilson’s office said there was insufficient evidence to warrant any even though Boyd and Williams bragged about what they had done.
Wilson had the temerity to try and bait peaceful protesters with whom he has serious political disagreements. But he has yet to show the integrity required to explain to Spivey’s family, and the rest of South Carolina, why he thinks it’s OK for two men to chase down another man for nine miles, shoot him to death, and declare self-defense.
Republican state Sen. Tom Fernandez, who represents parts of Dorchester, Orangeburg and my hometown county Berkeley, drove around one of Saturday’s “No Kings” protests in Summerville. Like a 12-year-old, he was blaring a loud horn and gave the crowd his middle finger, the kind of behavior that has sparked road rage incidents.
He later posted on Facebook that a protester flipped him off first and “several” shouted obscenities at him so he “did what any red-blooded FREE American would do when someone cusses at and flips them off in public... I returned the gesture.”
As reported by ABC News 4, Fernandez was driving his six-wheeled Ram 1500 “Apocalypse” Juggernaut Kevlar-coated truck. Imagine if a crowd member felt threatened by Fernandez’s actions and decided to chase him. Imagine if that led to something awful. Unfortunately during times like these, as we’ve seen with this weekend’s political killings and subsequent manhunt in Minnesota, that’s not an unlikely scenario.
According to what Wilson determined in the Spivey case, that crowd member could declare he was the real victim no matter the outcome of an interaction that occurred even nine miles away.
That’s why Wilson’s decision in the Spivey case set a dangerous precedent for every South Carolinian — and every visitor and tourist — and broadened stand-your-ground laws in a way that endangers us all. An argument is no longer just an argument, a misunderstanding no longer just a misunderstanding. Wilson’s decision shows that violence is a legal remedy even when violence is neither necessary nor should even be an option.
Wilson spent the past week trying to goad peaceful protesters into committing acts that would trigger state violence. No one should have been surprised. Because preventing violence doesn’t seem a priority for the state’s top law enforcement official.