The capital city of the first state to secede from the Union saw the Confederate battle flag return to Statehouse grounds Sunday morning.
One year following Governor Nikki Haley's decision to remove the Confederate flag from outside the building, the South Carolina Secessionist Party raised its own flag in the same spot, rallying in passionate support of it and what it means to them.
The week leading up to the rally consisted of multiple tragedies involving law enforcement, including the shooting and killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile near Minneapolis, Minnesota. These incidents sparked outrage and Black Lives Matter protests. The most recent tragedy, in Dallas, Texas, was the murder of five police officers.
In the aftermath of these events, a Black Lives Matter counterprotest to the Confederate flag rally was cancelled. There would instead be a larger Black Lives Matter protest at 7 p.m. The Secessionist Party, however, stood by its decision to hold its rally at 11 a.m. Sunday. Many of those who attended the rally wore black ribbons on their wrists in remembrance of the fallen Dallas officers.
The lawn in front of the Capitol building was curtained almost completely with stars and bars. Attendees donned hats and T-shirts with their flag's design on them. Citizens in civil war re-enactment costumes stood by as the flag they came to support was raised up on a 30-foot pole.
Some of the flags people carried on their person had phrases on them, such as "These colors don't run," "I ain't coming down" and "Heritage not hate."
Among the rebel flag's supporters was USC's second-year business student Trey Weaver, who stopped by the rally after leaving church. Weaver says his ancestors fought in the Confederate army, and he supports them and what they stood for.
"I think it goes back to what the war between the states was actually about," Weaver told the The Daily Gamecock in reference to those who believe the flag sends a hateful message. "I did a pretty lengthy paper on the war between the states and Robert E. Lee and secession ... It wasn't about slavery. It wasn't about right or wrong. It was about states' rights."
Weaver says that the flag stands for the Confederacy, states' rights and Southern pride, not slavery.
"Anyone who turns [the flag] into a hatred symbol is ignorant of what history actually says," Weaver said.
A podium stood on the first landing of the Statehouse steps. At just about 11 a.m., after a prayer from a clergyman, South Carolina Secessionist Party chairman James Bessenger stepped up to the podium and addressed the people who were ready to see the flag rise again.
"Our flag is missing. We came to put it back," Bessenger said. "So, without any more delay, let's put it back." People applauded as they turned their attention to the other side of the lawn where the flagpole was standing. Men dressed in Civil War re-enactment uniforms raised the flag ceremoniously as people chanted, "Leave it there! Leave it there!"
People in attendance sang along to live music played from the Statehouse steps. Following this, Bessenger welcomed to the podium Arlene Barnum, a Confederate flag advocate from Oklahoma.
Barnum is African-American and dismissed the idea that the flag has racist undertones.
"I think taking this flag down is an attack on white people, but white people are too afraid to say it because they will be called 'racist,'" Barnum said. "I feel sorry for white people, honestly."
The rally was barricaded off by a gate lined with police officers and state troopers. As the next speaker was addressing the crowd, several people began to turn around and head across the lawn toward Gervais Street. On the other side of the gate along the sidewalk and road stood passionate protesters.
The protesters spoke toward the rally as Bessenger directed the flag supporters to ignore them. The majority of the protesters were African-American and were protesting not just against the rhetoric of the Confederate flag, but to be voices for the Black Lives Matter movement. They showed up despite the Black Lives Matter protest being scheduled for the evening.
A protester said to the flag toters, "If y'all want us to get over slavery, y'all got to get over that damn war."
Another protester spoke vehemently through a megaphone toward the rally.
"It's not just us. It's people that look like you who understand what I'm saying, and that backs what I'm saying," he said. "That flag means heritage is your hate. That flag means that your heritage is your hate."
Protesters chanted, "Your flag represents hate — hate!" and "All power to the people!"
Soon after the protesters arrived, the Bastards Motorcycle Club joined them. The leather-clad men and women are a biker gang who stand up against social injustices.
While the club has no opinions in favor of or against the Confederate flag itself, according to their president, Steven "Chavez" Parker, they call upon its supporters to disavow white supremacists and others who fly it for racist reasons.
"When you harbor a racist, it's hard to take you seriously," Parker said through the megaphone.
Bessenger stepped back up to the podium to conclude the speeches heard at the rally. He encouraged all in attendance not to wait for organizations such as his own to put events together but to take it upon themselves to advocate what they believe the battle flag stands for. He also urged people to educate themselves on the history of the Confederacy so that they can accurately articulate why they support it and the flag so strongly.
"We have to go beyond 'heritage not hate,' and tell people why their heritage is important," Bessenger said.
A protester continued to speak to rally attendees through the megaphone on behalf of the black community.
"We are not to watch our children die. We are not to watch our grandfathers and grandmothers roll in their graves," the protester said.
Sean McGuinness, a USC alumnus, stood on the protest side of the gate carrying two poster boards, one of which depicted Godzilla going after a Confederate flag standing over a city. The other poster board had an excerpt from a speech by Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, and "#ItWasAboutSlavery."
McGuinness told The Daily Gamecock that his ancestors fought for the Confederacy, but the people who sport the flag today are not representative of what he stands for.
"I have a foot in the past and a foot in the future," McGuinness said.
Sunday evening, several hours after the rally, citizens gathered outside the Statehouse again for a "Black Lives Matter" protest against what is thought to be a system of continued injustice toward the black community. The protesters marched from Statehouse through different parts of Columbia before arriving back and sitting on the Statehouse steps.
As many police officers stood at the top of the steps, protesters sat with each other, chanting, "No justice, no peace," and voicing their infuriation and exhaustion from black citizens being killed by police officers.
The protest remained peaceful, and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott reported no incidents or arrests.
Tying the history that the secessionist party prides in with the rhetoric of Black Lives Matter, one man in a Confederate Army re-enactment uniform carried a sign that read, "Black lives matter. Blue lives matter. Confederate lives matter. All lives matter. Keep it peaceful. End the violence."