SC leaders push for state hate crime law: ‘It will not go away if we ignore it’

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Several statewide leaders are pushing the ing of a hate crime bill in South Carolina that would enact harsher punishments for violators.

A handful of political and human rights organizations stood at the podium at the U.S. Customs House on Friday to voice what they believe is an answer to calming a “perfect storm” in the rise of hate crimes.

“If we don’t constrain the amount of hate crimes in our society, they will competitively grow more numerous and more violent until they get our attention,” Lowcountry Up is Good Political Action Committee Executive Director William Hamilton said.

The conference shed light on several conflicts, including the effects of the ongoing war in Israel, the treatment of LGBTQ+ in the state and gun violence action in the wake of a mass shooting in Maine earlier in the week.

“If you’re human, you don’t have a right to be under scrutiny because of hate,” South Carolina Representative Wendell Gilliard said.

The group is pushing to the Clementa C. Pinckney Act, which would mean a sharper sentence for anyone accused of acting violently against another based on beliefs of race, religion, identity or disability.

A perpetrator could face up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

South Carolina is one of two states without a hate crime law in place.

The group took a moment to address what they believe is inaction from current state leaders on the topic.

“To be one of two states that don’t have a hate crime law in place,” Charleston Interreligious Council member Brandon Fish said, “I believe is sending a message that South Carolina doesn’t want to send to the rest of the country and our elected officials don’t want to send to the people of South Carolina.”

This is not the first time Representative Gilliard has spearheaded a similar event to vouch for the bill.

The group met earlier in June at the Emanuel AME Church.

The act itself is named after one of the nine victims in a mass shooting at the church back in 2015.

“What are we doing to meet the needs of everyday South Carolinians,” Alliance for Full Acceptance Executive Director Chase Gleen asked, “who experienced the sort of discrimination, violence and hate on a daily basis?”

The law has been in the works for several years, ed earlier this year in the House but stalled out in the Senate.

The group is hoping this meeting will help get the word out ahead of the state legislative session reconvening in January.

“It’s going to take republicans, democrats, independents, people of all creeds and colors to make change in the greatest country in the world,” Gilliard said.

The group is planning a prayer vigil at Marion Square next Thursday for anyone who wants to come out and give to others in the community.