The Daily Gamecock

Vigil, protests inspire call for peace

Students and activists gathered on South Carolina Statehouse grounds Saturday evening to peacefully protest and mourn the loss of black lives across the United States.

People stood, mingled and carried signs on the lawn and the Gervais Street sidewalk while the Statehouse steps were reserved for speeches from organizers and guest speakers. Tianna Mills, a co-organizer of the event, addressed the crowd.

"We are telling the world right now — we are telling the people who didn't come out here — that we matter," Mills said. "We will be heard. We will not be silenced."

Some people held signs that read "Stop police brutality" or "No more tragedies." A small child sat at the foot of the Confederate monument with a sign that read "Black lives matter" on one side and "Silence is complicity" on the other.

The event offered a setting for outspoken protest, but it was also a time for grieving and remembrance. Candles were placed by the Statehouse stairs to honor the people who lost their lives in incidents leading to the BLM movement.

Stan Strickland, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, attended the event. Strickland says that he does not follow BLM as a movement or an organization, but he follows and supports the "concept" of ensuring that black lives and all other lives are "handled justly."

"I fought for this country and I will fight for this country again," Strickland said, "but I think also that the people [who] protest things that go on in this country that they disagree with ... I think they have a right to disagree with it, but they need to focus on their method of disagreement."

Columbia's own BLM chapter is called "Simple Justice," and activist Ty dePass attended the event on behalf of the organization. Holding a sign that read "Excuses don't matter," dePass said that he expected the event to keep the focus on "the issue of something that's not going away."

"We can almost anticipate that some time this week, there'll be another young black man or older black man shot under suspicious circumstances," dePass said.

Also in attendance was Patrick Hill, a third-year international business student from the United Kingdom. Hill said he'd been following the BLM for a while and a Facebook post led him to the event Saturday evening.

"In the UK, we're still strongly behind the movement," Hill said. "There's big representation for this movement in the media and in TV programs."

Hill said he hoped that the event would show "an interest in the area toward supporting the black community."

In September, civilians rioted in Charlotte in protest of a police shooting and killing of a black man. Rasheed Ali, who attended the Columbia protest, claimed to have been in Charlotte during the riots. He described himself as a liaison between law enforcement and the people  as well as an activist and independent journalist.

"I go to the major protests, especially when there's probably going to be rioting," Ali said. "And I'm usually on the scene to try to diffuse situations that could turn ugly."

Ali said that South Carolina law enforcement is "familiar" with him, but Charlotte was a tougher place.

Ali commended South Carolina law enforcement for a peaceful relationship with the people.

"We have control here. Our law enforcement is a lot more courteous here in South Carolina than in North Carolina," Ali said. "That's why we don't riot."

Law enforcement officers were present on Statehouse grounds for the event. Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook stood on the other side of Gervais Street supervising the area.

Holbrook says he thinks it is important for officers to be at events such as BLM protests and vigils to support those who have grievances and are calling for change.

"I think what separates us from so many other places across the country is that we respect and honor people's rights to assemble and protest and voice their views and opinions," Holbrook said. "It's very important to us that we make sure that everybody is safe, and I think we've done that very well over the last couple years."

Chief Holbrook says there is a visible "significant mistrust" of law enforcement among civilians. He also says that officers should work to eliminate the anti-police narrative as well as suspicious shootings.

"Citizens are the police and the police are the citizens, and we're human," Holbrook said. "We've got to be accountable to the public that we serve."

Throughout the event, especially while no one was speaking on the steps, people protested on the sidewalk, projecting their voices to Gervais and Main streets.

People chanted "Say their names!" between the names of black people who have made headlines after being killed by law enforcement officers.

A.C. Parham, a third-year criminal justice student, and Bethany Cromer, a fourth-year sport management student, also protested near the street.

"Enough is enough, honestly, with police brutality. And I feel like police need to be held accountable for their actions," Parham said. "I'm really tired of watching the news and seeing innocent black lives just being taken for no reason at all."

As cars went by, some of the drivers honked their horns or held up their fists in solidarity with the protesters, to which protesters responded with cheers.

"I'm just here for equality ... A white guy can [shoot] up a church and he gets escorted out, but the black guy that's reading a book gets shot," Cromer said. "It's not fair."

Parham and Cromer said they were happy with the event's turnout — many people showed up and formed a racially diverse crowd, and the event remained peaceful.

Another attendee from the USC community was David Snyder, faculty principal at USC's International House.

A historian, Snyder said that the events that spark protests such as Saturday's are part of a "long and very tragic history in American life," and that he wants to contribute to actions in response to that.

"Black people have known for a very long time what the problems are, but too many white people are unaware and need to be woken up," Snyder said.  He also said that not enough is being done about systemic racism, and that, "by definition," there is no limit to what can be done.

After Mills spoke to the crowd again and was followed up by a guest poet, her co-organizer Rachel Barringer took the platform.

Barringer encouraged the white people in attendance to give a person of color the chance to speak out from experience. She said that she has the privilege of using her voice and platform as a white woman, and that is "not a gift that is given to everyone."

Continuing to address the white people in the crowd specifically, Barringer called for them to avoid neutrality and take a stand against incidents of racism.

"Stand up when your coworkers, when your family, when random people on the internet who look like you voice the racism that is tearing our society apart; stand up," Barringer said, "because this is not going to change until we do."

Staff writer Mike Woodel contributed to this report.


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