Local officials listen as group calls for justice

By Jason Evans

Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — “There Comes a Time When Silence Is Betrayal.”

“All Lives Can’t Matter Until Black Lives Matter.”

“More Justice.”

Holding those signs and others, a number of protesters gathered in Pickens’ Legacy Square on Monday afternoon to protest against police brutality.

Monday’s protest was one of many held across the country in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, who died last week after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Chauvin and three other Minneapolis police officers were fired following Floyd’s death. On Friday, Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

As they held their signs up for passersby, and again as they marched to the Pickens County Courthouse, protesters repeatedly chanted “What’s his name? George Floyd!” and “I can’t breathe!”

The protest was organized by Justin Sportsman, who told the Courier he was a Pickens resident.

Sportsman said he decided to organize a protest Sunday morning.

“Of course, the George Floyd thing is really what started it,” he said. “But for me, what really pushed me was seeing New York City, the way that the police used the rubber bullets on their own people, trampling people with horses, running them down with cars. We need a peaceful protest. We need to stand up to that. That can’t happen.”

Pickens resident Kenya Hunter said she learned of the protest on Facebook and felt she had to take part.

“It was very important that I came out today,” Hunter said.

She said other people had been using social media to spread misinformation about protesters’ intentions.

“They said that (Sportsman) was part of a group that was here for the looting and the arson and all that,” Hunter said. “At the end of the day, when we come here, I want peace.”

As the protesters prepared to march, they were approached by a group that included Pickens Mayor Fletcher Perry, Rep. Davey Hiott and Sen. Rex Rice.

Perry said he was initially apprehensive about the protest “because of what has been going on around the country.”

“My main focus was to make sure that the citizens were safe and that there was no damage to property and that the protesters were safe, and I think that was accomplished so far,” he said. “I don’t want to leave them out here by themselves.”

The presence of Rice and Hiott, as well as that of police officers and sheriff’s deputies, “speaks volumes,” Perry said.

“We feel comfortable, but you never know what might happen,” he said. “There’s always some infiltration of people that might try to do something once this is over with. We’re going to be vigilant.”

“I wasn’t afraid,” Sportsman said of the officials’ approach. “I knew that it wasn’t a threat, because they were all dressed well. They did not look threatening. I thought it was really going to be a beautiful thing to add to our protest, and it was.”

Following discussion and a group prayer, the officials, including Sheriff Rick Clark, joined the protesters as they marched to the courthouse and back.

“It makes me feel like this city listens,” Sportsman said of the officials taking part. “They know what’s going on, or at least they want to cover their own protection, which is their right. It’s a positive thing. 100 percent, positive thing.”

Perry said he’d seen footage of Greenville law enforcement taking part in a protest over the weekend, including Sheriff Hobart Lewis taking a knee with the crowd.

“I saw the reaction of the crowd when he did that,” Perry said.

He said it was Hiott’s idea to join the group.

“When he said that, it really turned out to be, I think, very important for them and for us also to understand that we’re here not only to protect them, but to protect our city,” Perry said.

After returning to Legacy Square, many of the protesters laid down with their hands behind their backs for eight minutes and 46 seconds — the amount of time prosecutors said Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck before he died.

Hunter said those laying down felt the heat of the pavement after only a few minutes.

“Now imagine three people being on your neck, your back and one holding your feet,” she said. “It wasn’t right. It’s not right. I do not feel police brutality is correct. They need to stop it.

“(Michael) Vick got more time than all of the officers who have actually had their hands in with the murder — however you want to put it — with the 500 people black people that have been killed. He served more time than they did. It’s not right.”

The protest was about “unity and fighting police oppression,” Sportsman said.

“We really did what we set out to do today,” he said.