Protests in Beaufort, Bluffton, Savannah over police killing: ‘My son will not be next’
Protesters marched, carried signs and honked in Beaufort, Bluffton and Savannah Sunday, mirroring demonstrations across the country as tensions exploded over the most recent killing of an African American by police.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police last week prompted the protests over systemic racism and police brutality across the U.S.
More than 300 vehicles bearing signs and painted with the names of dead black men and women drove through the streets of Bluffton Sunday.
The goal: to “demand justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and all who can’t speak for their justice,” according to the event poster.
After the parade, rain poured on a group of about 100 as they gathered for a prayer and rally at Bluffton’s Eagle Field.
“We’ve been singing these pleas forever, for 100s of years — 400 years from when we first came here on these slave ships until now. ” Savannah Littlejohn, a Beaufort County native, said. “We need to make sure that Bluffton is a leader — that we are going against racism.”
Littlejohn, a 2019 May River High School graduate, plans to meet with town officials, including Mayor Lisa Sulka, next week.
“George Floyd was murdered on camera and that is just horrific and that is just the one on camera,” Littlejohn said. “I want to be proactive. I want to make sure that our officers have a relationship with the people in this community.”
Multiple community leaders, including the mayor, spoke at the event, called “#TooManyHashtags: United, Woke & Fed Up” and held by The Bluffton MLK Observance Committee.
Bluffton Police Department Capt. Joe Babkiewicz told the crowd he swore an oath to protect everyone in the community 17 years ago.
“That whole group of officers tarnished our badge,” he said in reference to the officers involved in George Floyd’s death. “Together we are going to push forward and together we are going to be better because we have to be better.”
In Columbia, a second day of demonstrations resulted in tear gas Sunday afternoon; rubber bullets also appeared to be fired. A downtown curfew is in effect there until 6 a.m. Monday.
More than a dozen people were arrested Saturday and at least 15 law enforcement officers were injured in Columbia. Saturday’s events began as a peaceful protest at the State House but, hours later, devolved into violence outside the Columbia Police Department headquarters in the Vista.
In Savannah on Sunday, hundreds of people marched around Johnson Square and stood outside Savannah’s City Hall, chanting “I can’t breathe,” “black lives matter,” and “no justice, no peace.”
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson announced the city would create a task force to examine “every single disparity that exists in the City of Savannah, be it economic, be it health, be it social, be it police.”
“All police officers are not bad,” he told the crowd. “We just got to get rid of the bad ones.”
Then Johnson asked the crowd to take a knee and be silent for eight seconds. Most in the crowd knelt; many raised a fist. The moment of silence was broken with chants: “black lives matter!”
The crowd walked down Bay Street and down to the Savannah River, before continuing on a circuitous route through the city.
State police in riot gear rolled up at Ellis Square at about 3:45 p.m. The Georgia National Guard was on hand to assist police, but the protests remained peaceful.
In Beaufort, a small group gathered Saturday night to protest downtown. On Sunday, between 80 and 90 people carried signs at Ribaut Road and Boundary Street at various times, asking passersby to honk for justice and end white supremacy. “What if it was your brother?” one sign said. Another: “My son will not be next.”
Among those whose deaths Beaufort County residents mourned: Trey Pringle, who died after a February 2018 confrontation with Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office at his Seabrook home.
In Columbia on Sunday, a crowd of hundreds was gathered at the State House while S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster addressed the state from the Emergency Management Division headquarters in West Columbia. Around 2 p.m. the protesters began marching through downtown, eventually taking a turn toward the Columbia Police Department headquarters before being met by a line of officers in riot gear.
“What happened in Minneapolis with George Floyd, there’s absolutely no excuse for that as we all know,” McMaster said. “We welcome protest, we welcome people speaking their mind and exercising their constitutional right in this country of freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, to peaceably assemble and express their concerns. We welcome it, and we learn from it every time, we’re better because of it. But also, we do not tolerate lawlessness and violence and destruction of property and harm to our people. So we are prepared, we are determined to see that things level off here in South Carolina and we do not experience the tragedies we have seen in other places.”
“We are highly and well-equipped to illuminate or to prevent violence, I hope to prevent violence,” McMaster said. “Law enforcement all across the state is activated, on alert and is ready. And I say to any of those who would do damage to our people, who would hurt their cause, who would destroy property, who would incite fear and violence, the law enforcement establishment of South Carolina will deal very sternly with you, very quickly and very sternly.”
By 3:45 p.m., organizers of the original protest were urging crowds gathered at the S.C. State House to go home. The organized event over, the crowd still did not immediately disperse. Some demonstrators left the area, but many still lingered near the intersection of Main and Gervais streets.
In Beaufort County, Pringle, 24, was among those remembered on Sunday. His family had called the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office for help in controlling him in 2018. Pringle had a history of mental health issues and had injured himself during an episode in which he smashed a TV, officials and documents say. An autopsy determined Pringle died during “restraint in a prone position with chest compression.”
Last year, Duffie Stone, 14th Circuit solicitor, announced no charges would be brought in the death. “I do not believe that the officers or medical personal intended to harm Trey Pringle,” Stone said at the time. “They were trying to protect him and the others around him.”
A statement from the Pringle family’s attorney disputed the finding. “While we do not agree with Solicitor Stone’s decision to decline to prosecute the officers involved in Trey’s death, we understand that it is unusual for law enforcement to be prosecuted when a death occurs during the course of officers carrying out their duties,” Shannon M. Chandler said at the time.
Island Packet / Beaufort Gazette reporter Rachel Jones contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 5:28 PM.
