Beaufort protesters continue to seek justice in deaths at police hands, end to racism
Taylor Maddox held one corner of the black Black Lives Matter banner visible to everyone driving past on Boundary Street in Beaufort.
Maddox, a 19-year-old who is white, carried another poster with the written message “Honk for justice.”
The peaceful protest on a busy Beaufort corner — the county courts and administration building on one side and City Hall and the Beaufort Police Department on the other — continued Wednesday. Protesters, both black and white, pulled in the large open parking lot of a former Piggly Wiggly grocery store and assembled near a red tent at mid morning.
Organizers are asking for justice for Trey Pringle, a 24-year-old black man who died after he was stunned by a Taser and restrained during an altercation with Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies and other first responders at Pringle’s home in Seabrook in 2018.
They are also asking for justice for George Floyd, the Minnesota man who died after a police officer pressed his knee to the neck of a handcuffed Floyd for almost nine minutes. The incident has sparked nationwide protests denouncing racism and police brutality.
Maddox said she has joined the Beaufort protest each day before work to fight for justice for those men and for long-term change so that the same thing doesn’t happen to people she cares about.
“It’s my friends, too, I don’t want to see them ever affected by that,” Maddox said. “I’m exempt from this because I’m white. I don’t face any of these problems, because I’m white. I’m not scared for my life when I’m pulled over, because I’m white. It’s wrong. It shouldn’t be happening.”
Tim Garvin, Pringle’s friend who began the protest Saturday, said an artist plans to paint portraits of Pringle, Floyd and others that will be displayed along the roadside.
“It’s a long list,” Garvin said.
He detailed a tense traffic stop of his own not far away on Boundary Street, when several officers stopped his 1991 BMW one night and told him it fit the description of a hit and run.
The car was in pristine condition, Garvin said, and he asked officers for evidence proving his vehicle resembled one in a crime. His father eventually had to come to the scene to help resolve the situation.
Garvin said he ultimately wants the people he feels are responsible for Pringle’s death held accountable.
Prosecutors last year declined to press charges in the case, with 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone saying those involved had been trying to help protect Pringle and the people there.
On Tuesday Garvin spoke with state Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, and Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling. Beaufort Police have been a regular presence. Two sheriff’s deputies stopped by briefly, Garvin said.
People have approached him in tears of joy because of the effort, he said. Garvin expected larger turnout Wednesday after television news reports of the gathering.
“Everybody has their own struggle,” Garvin said. “Everybody has their own issue in town, and we want everybody to address it. And we’re going to do it in a united way. If everybody points these issues out together, it’s going to make the city pay attention.”
Protests are expected to continue throughout the week and expand on Friday with a special event for school teachers, school staff, students and volunteers. They will gather from 5-7 p.m. at the corner of Boundary Street and Ribaut Road. Participants must bring their own chairs and signs and have been asked to wear school colors.
