Beaufort Co. residents fight for array of causes at Saturday rallies
Beaufort County residents gathered Saturday morning across the area to support an array of causes.
Here’s a rundown of those rallies:
National debate on police brutality comes to Beaufort
For a few hours Saturday morning, Beaufort’s main thoroughfare seemed to represent the chasm between two Americas, with different, but sometimes overlapping, conceptions of true injustice.
At the intersection of Boundary Street and Ribaut Road, protesters for a “Back the Blue and First Responders” rally in support of law enforcement stood across from protesters calling for “Justice for Trey,” a reference to the late Trey Pringle, who died after an altercation with police and a fireman in his home in 2018.
The rally in support of law enforcement was hosted by the Beaufort Tea Party, according to a Facebook posting, while the protest calling for justice for Pringle was hosted by the nonprofit community organization Unified Beaufort Inc.
Protesters with American flags and signs reading, “Defend the Police” and “I Support Those Who Protect and Serve” side populated the vacant lot of the former Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
Across the road, between City Hall and the City Police Department, protesters carried signs saying, “No Justice No Peace” and “Anti-Brutality is not Anti-Police.”
While the sides competed over the approving honks of passing cars, the gatherings were largely peaceful.
Attendants at the rally supporting law enforcement outnumbered those across the street, with roughly a hundred attendees to Unified Beaufort’s 25.
Tim Garvin, the founder of Unified Beaufort Inc., and a friend of Pringle’s, said his group spent 14 days peacefully protesting following George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May.
“Nobody was tearing up, looting, none of that,” Garvin said.
Garvin made clear that he and other members of Unified Beaufort supported police. At one point, after crossing Boundary Street, he spoke to “Back the Blue” protesters about his cause, and they found common ground in opposition to police brutality.
“Any of you guys that want to come on our side [of Boundary Street], you are welcome,” Garvin said.
Beaufort County council member Mike Covert (R-District 7) spoke at the law enforcement rally, telling supporters of his respect for and close personal relationships with law enforcement, including his son-in-law.
“Even though America is going through and dealing with some differences these days, each of you walking that thin blue line is an integral part of this community,” he said.
Hilton Head post office rally
The South of the Broad Democratic Club hosted rallies in support of the U.S. Postal Service at Hilton Head’s post offices on the north and south ends Saturday.
According to organizer Cathy McClellan, about a dozen people showed up to the north end rally where participants stayed for about an hour and a half.
The Democratic Club’s protests were part of MoveOn.org’s “day of action” aimed at saving the postal service, which has come under attack by President Donald Trump over mail-in voting in the presidential election.
Hundreds of similar protests started across the country at 11 a.m.
Beaufort reopening schools protest
Down Ribaut Road from the police protests, Sean and Devin Apgar hosted a protest to urge the Beaufort County School District Schools to offer an in-person teaching option for students. The rally drew one other parent.
Superintendent Frank Rodriguez decided the school year would start virtually Sept. 8, and the Apgars said they do not feel like they were included in the decision-making process.
The parents of students at Robert Smalls International Academy and Battery Creek High School, the Apgars drafted a petition Aug. 5 calling for parents to have a choice whether their students attended classes in person or online.
The petition had 981 signatures as of press time.
“This is for other kids — kids who don’t have access to Internet, parents who have to go to work,” Devin Apgar said.
They were joined by Katie Hazelbaker, who said it is difficult to teach her son, who is in kindergarten at River Ridge Academy, when she has to work.
“I feel like our voices are being silenced,” Hazelbaker said.
This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 4:28 PM.
