Greenville abortion rights protest: City launches investigation of use of force in arrests

Greenville city officials and staff are investigating police use of force Saturday when crowds filled downtown to protest the Supreme Court ruling that ended Americans' constitutional right to abortion.

According to an email sent Saturday night by the Greenville Police Department, one person was arrested after police warned them multiple times about their interference with traffic, and five more people were taken into custody for charges including disorderly conduct, interfering with police and resisting arrest.

An email sent Monday by the police identified those six people and said they were released from custody after receiving citations and dates to appear in court.

The Greenville News has requested reports from the police related to the arrests.

"An internal review of the incident will focus on the officer’s response and use of force," Greenville police Sgt. Johnathan Bragg said in the email. "This is standard protocol for all incidents involving force."

A video shared with The News and posted on Twitter appeared to show Greenville police using force in detaining six people. Videos appeared to show police physically restraining protesters on Main Street and then pushing down others who approach them.

One version of the video had 12.5K retweets and 24.8K likes as of Monday morning. One video shared on Twitter had 424,000 views as of Tuesday morning. Another video had 1.6 million views.

Madison Shirley along with around 150 other protesters were peacefully protesting Saturday after the rally had ended at 1 p.m.

Shirley said around 3 p.m. things began to get more tense with counter protesters and police officers.

"They (the counter protesters) began to be in the streets and yelling at us. The police didn't do much to stop them but calmly asked them to get back on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, they were putting their hands on us," Shirley told The Greenville News.

Shirley said a woman on the opposite side of her began to walk a bit off the sidewalk and onto the streets. Police then told the woman to get on the sidewalk and while the woman acknowledged them and attempted to get on the sidewalk, police began pushing her back.

"She tripped on the curb and that's when the police grabbed her and shoved her down to the ground and put her in handcuffs," Shirley said.

Seconds later, another man sprinted across the street and was tackled to the ground by police, Shirley said.

In a video posted to TikTok, four other individuals were being detained.

"The police officers did not give us any chance to follow their orders as they said in their statement, they weren't giving us time to respond and acknowledge their orders," Shirley said.

"We can do little to react to fast-moving social media accounts except to promise that everything will be investigated fairly," Mayor Knox White said in a text message.

"During numerous events in 2020, our police contributed to keeping protestors and our community peaceful and safe," he said. "Almost alone among peer cities, we had no damage and few arrests."

The officers did not deploy a Taser on the protesters, but they did use a "warning arc," which displays a discharge across the front of the Taser but does not actually deploy a cartridge, city spokesperson Beth Brotherton said Monday morning.

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The practice is "standard operating procedure" for crowd control, Brotherton said.

"The idea was to, without any use of force, disperse the crowd," she said.

Images shared on Twitter appeared to show members of the South Carolina Proud Boys in attendance Saturday alongside counter-protesters.

City council members supported the city's investigation of the incident.

"The city manager says police use-of-force is being fully investigated, as it should," White said. "A peaceful and routine protest became boisterous when, hours later, counter-protesters showed up and police had to separate the two groups to keep everyone safe. What happened next is subject to investigation."

Every use-of-force incident involving a Greenville police department officer is evaluated by an internal investigation, city councilmember at-large Dorothy Dowe said in a text message.

"All body-worn camera footage is being reviewed to get a full understanding of what occurred, and subsequently, a determination can be made on whether or not the officers involved acted appropriately in the situation," she said.

Once Chief Howie Thompson makes a decision on the officers' conduct, protesters involved in the incident can appeal the decision with the city's Public Safety Citizen Review Board, if desired, Dowe said.

This protest was different from previous racial justice protests over summer 2020, where law enforcement officials and the mayor credited multiple Black community activists for helping maintain order among protesters who rallied against police brutality — including Bruce Wilson, Traci Fant, Derrick Quarles, U.A. Thompson and Paul Guy.

In a statement, the South Carolina Democratic Party said the use of force was a "brutal assault on innocent people."

Chairman Trav Robertson said he felt like he was watching something from a "third world country" when viewing the video footage. Robertson called for Howie Thompson's resignation or termination.

"If that does not happen, then it is obvious that Knox White is no longer capable of leading the city of Greenville," Robertson said in a statement.

A call to Thompson on Monday was not immediately returned.

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Over one major weekend of protests on May 29-31, 2020, following the death of George Floyd, Greenville Police Department tallied 15 arrests — a stark contrast to South Carolina's two other major cities.

In Columbia, 50 arrests were made by the Columbia Police Department and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department on that Saturday and Sunday. Ten of those faced looting charges, 31 were charged with violating Columbia’s 6 p.m. curfew, three faced weapons charges and the remainder were handed various charges including disorderly conduct, according to a statement from the Columbia police. Twelve Columbia police officers also suffered injuries.

In Charleston, 62 arrests were made over the weekend, including 42 charges of disobeying a lawful order, three charges of second-degree burglary, one charge of damage to personal property, one loitering charge and five charges of violating a curfew, said department spokesperson Charles Francis. Francis said one officer twisted an ankle during the events.

Check back for more on this developing story.

Tamia Boyd is a Michigan native who covers breaking news in Greenville. Email her at tboyd@gannett.com, and follow her on Twitter @tamiamb.

Macon Atkinson is the city watchdog reporter for The Greenville News. She's powered by long runs and strong coffee. Follow her on Twitter @maconatkinson.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville, SC abortion protest: Arrest investigate for use of force