Residents urge council to drop charges and repeal First Amendment demonstration ordinance

Dozens of residents pressed the Charleston City Council during the Feb. 11 citizens participation period to drop criminal charges against seven people arrested at recent protests and to repeal the city's First Amendment demonstration ordinance.

The most direct appeals came from demonstrators and attorneys who said the ordinance has been used to criminalize peaceful expression. "Protesting is not a crime," said Matt Colburn, a member of the public who identified himself during his one-minute comment. "Stop the charge," he added, referring to the cases against the "Charleston 7."

Kareem Adelakonja, who identified himself as one of the Charleston 7, told council that he was arrested at a January protest and asked that charges be dropped. "We demand that the charges against the Charleston 7 be dropped," he said. Ally Minagakis, identified as an attorney and executive director of South Carolina for Criminal Justice Reform, said she is representing six of the arrested protesters pro bono and warned the city about potential civil liability if arrests and police use of the ordinance continue.

Several speakers said the ordinance, which was passed in July 2021, is applied selectively. "This ordinance was just used to surveil and clamp down on us," said Alfred Peeler, who described participation in earlier peaceful demonstrations and said the ordinance was used afterward to cite organizers. Marcus McDonald, lead organizer of Charleston Black Lives Matter, called the ordinance unconstitutional and rooted in an effort to suppress dissent.

Other commenters urged the city to stop any perceived cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Dulce Lopez, who said she has lived in Charleston for 20 years, said mixed-status families fear leaving their homes and asked the council to "please drop the charges" and to "not cooperate with ICE." Multiple speakers linked the arrests and the ordinance to broader concerns about public safety for immigrant and Black communities.

Not every speaker spoke directly about the ordinance: some raised related concerns such as the timing and manner in which the measure was adopted, with Autumn Waddell saying the ordinance had been passed at an emergency meeting with no public comment. Several speakers recommended that the council create a First Amendment committee or a liaison to expedite permits and create designated, safe spaces for protest. "We need to have space for that," Ally Minagakis said.

Council members did not take action on the public comments during the meeting. The council clerk recorded 17 speakers for the citizens participation period. The public record presented at the meeting also included several online comments on unrelated topics, and council members noted upcoming meetings where some of the community's other concerns will be addressed.

Speakers who addressed the Charleston 7 and the ordinance were members of the public and organizers; the meeting transcript records them making direct appeals but shows no formal motion or vote on the ordinance or the pending charges during the Feb. 11 meeting.