Two unidentified Clemson University male students won’t face criminal charges for taking Mosquito Beach’s colorful surfboard, but there are some strings attached. Each has to perform 40 hours of community service work in the Sol Legare community as well as meet with Sol Legare residents and watch the movie Glory to understand the area’s Civil War history.
“We’re very sorry for what happened and we’ve felt welcomed by the community,” one of the chagrined students told a mostly Black group of about 40 people who attended a Monday meeting of the Concerned Citizens of Sol Legare. The sign, retrieved April 10 from a university dorm room, is back in its historic location today.
What would have happened …?
Some residents in the predominantly Black community believe if the roles were switched and two Black students stole something from nearby Folly Beach, they would have gone to jail.
Shirley Gaillard Carter, a director of the Concerned Citizens of Sol Legare, said she agreed with a decision to keep the students from facing criminal charges, but she believed “if it was one of our children, they would have ended up in jail. Everyone deserves a second chance.”
Still, the students are getting a taste of the historic community’s ire.
“They got a good tongue-lashing,” Carter said, referring to an appearance the duo made at a meeting last month.
The Mosquito Beach Business Association’s decision to not press criminal charges, however, placed its vice-chairman, former James Island Public Service Commission member Cubby Wilder, in the hot seat with the wider Sol Legare community.
“I have heard that a thousand times that I am too soft, but after the community meeting, I said what if it was your kid that made a mistake,” asked the 80-year-old Wilder, who recalls when Folly Beach opened in the early 1960s to Black beachgoers.
Service to the Sol Legare community
“We want those kids to learn some Black history that was left out of our history books,” said Wilder, who lives on Sol Legare Road. “One of their homework [tasks] is to go watch Glory,” as well as to attend meetings to hear about Sol. Legare community projects, pick up trash around the building and tour the community’s Sea Shore Farmers Lodge and Cultural Center, Wilder said.
Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano, who happened to attend the Monday community meeting, said because the association wasn’t pressing charges, her office wasn’t involved.
“No victim, no crime,” she said, adding that people often work out issues like this without charges being filed. “Anybody who rates a second chance should be afforded one.”
As part of their community service, the students agreed to watch the 1989 movie Glory, which focused on the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. The Black volunteer soldiers formed by the Union during the war, was one of the units involved in the unsuccessful assault on Fort Wagner on Morris Island that is depicted in the movie. Black soldiers camped at the Sol Legare area before the attack.
Although the sign was taken from Mosquito Beach in the Sol Legare community, the Concerned Citizens of Sol Legare also “wanted the kids to do some work for Sol Legare,” Wilder told the City Paper in an exclusive interview.
Charleston attorney Matt Austin, who represents the students, said the Mosquito Beach Business Association “as well as the Concerned Citizens of Sol Legare Community Foundation graciously invited my clients into their community not only to perform acts of service but also to sit with members of their community to learn from their experiences. We remain grateful for their decision to use the situation as a teachable moment.”
When the students were asked this month whether they learned anything from the incident, one started nodding his head as the other directed a reporter to contact Austin.
No charges but ….
On April 5, Wilder flagged down a Charleston County Sheriff’s Department (CCSO) deputy to report he last saw the sign the day before at Mosquito Beach and Sol Legare roads.
Five days later Charleston County detectives met Clemson police officers in Columbia to retrieve the sign and return it to Mosquito Beach. Clemson’s associate vice president of communications, Joe Galbraith, didn’t respond to the paper’s request for a comment.
After the sign was located at Clemson and the students were questioned about it, Wilder prepared a work plan for each of them to do 40 hours of community service to avoid criminal charges, he said.
“The sheriff’s department sent me the paperwork and when they complete their time, I’ll sign off on it,” Wilder told the City Paper. “If they don’t show up to do that 40 hours,” they could face charges, he said. Wilder said he has not yet set a deadline as to when the work should be completed.
In a text message to the City Paper, sheriff’s department spokesperson Alexis Douglas said, Mosquito Beach community leaders asked the department “if the agency could provide a log to help them keep track of community service hours served, as was worked out in the civil agreement between the two parties. We provided that log, however, this is not anything that the community is required to turn into our agency, nor is CCSO responsible for monitoring the community service in any way.
“With this being a civil agreement, … the individuals in this case were not ordered to do anything,” Douglas said. “That would have required charges and a judgment. If the community leadership decides they want to sign a declination of prosecution down the road, they are free to change their mind and do that.”
Andy Brack contributed to this story.
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