The fact that the city of Charleston has an ordinance titled “First Amendment Demonstrations” recognizes that citizens have a right to peaceably assemble, as outlined in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
But that’s about all the ordinance has in common with the Constitution. Rather, it is a method to control the rights of Charlestonians to assemble by using a specially-crafted permitting system that we believe is unconstitutional.
The ordinance came into being when a lemming-like city council bought into fears by local businesses of long-term “rioting” after the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. His death did, in fact, cause riots in other parts of the country.
But Charleston’s reaction was comparatively tame — no deaths, three fires, broken windows and some looting. Perhaps the biggest reason that night got out of hand was police seemed to be caught off guard. But by the next night, they clamped down — and the chorus of people calling for big action on “the riot” got started, leading to the draconian ordinance that now requires a permit for any gathering of 25 or more people.
After watching the recent No Kings protest in Hampton Park — a permitted event where people effectively exercised their constitutional rights and police respectfully monitored the event to protect protesters and the anti-protesters who didn’t really materialize — we believe it is time for city council to revise the 2021 protest regulation. Failing that, citizen groups should challenge it as unconstitutional in federal courts.
Why? Because the regulation is overzealous, a 21st century overreaction that has echoes of Charleston’s 19th century overreaction in the so-called 1822 slave revolt that led to hangings of Black freedman Denmark Vesey and 34 slaves.
According to the city’s 2021 regulation, a First Amendment demonstration is “any demonstration, assembly, picketing, speechmaking, marching, protesting, vigil or religious service, and all other like forms of conduct, in or upon any street, including the sidewalk area thereof, park or other public place in the city, that involve the communication or expression of views or grievances, engaged in by one or more persons, the conduct of which is reasonably likely to draw a crowd or onlookers.”
Yep, that’s overly broad and restrictive. And while the ordinance does include an exception for “spontaneous gatherings” caused by “breaking news or affairs,” the language is open to interpretation by authorities and can easily be swatted away to keep people from protesting.
South Carolinians have a long tradition of not liking being told what to do, stemming all the way back to Christoper Gadsden’s pre-Revolutionary “Don’t Tread On Me” flag. It’s time for this restrictive ordinance to go and for common sense to prevail.
We need to be able to peacefully protest in collaboration with police keeping safe environments — without having to do so within the confines of rules that could be from a police state.
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