SC

Free Speech? Not In South Carolina

NIKKI HALEY’S ADMINISTRATION CANCELS PRO-SECESSION RALLY … This website led the fight to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the S.C. State House earlier this year … but we’ve got to be honest, the aftermath of this battle has left a very bitter taste in our mouths. Sure, we…

NIKKI HALEY’S ADMINISTRATION CANCELS PRO-SECESSION RALLY …

This website led the fight to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the S.C. State House earlier this year … but we’ve got to be honest, the aftermath of this battle has left a very bitter taste in our mouths.

Sure, we remained convinced taking the flag down was the right thing to do … but what should have been a respectful acknowledgment of the flag’s proper historical place instead turned into mass demonization.  Meanwhile people who were promised a chance to defend themselves from unfounded allegations of racism were lied to by the state’s elected officials – who were too busy taking the flag down for political reasons.

Anyway …

All of this leads us to this week’s decision by S.C. governor Nikki Haley‘s Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) to revoke a permit to the S.C. Secessionist Party – which had previously been granted permission to hold an event on the grounds of the S.C. State House on December 20.

The reason this group’s permit was pulled?  Unspecified “safety concerns” – raised by this guy.

“The State House grounds are a place where the public is encouraged to gather and even protest peacefully,” Haley’s SCDPS director wrote in a letter to the head of her administrative agency, which approves or rejects State House permits.  “But our primary concern must always be safety and security of our citizens and visitors.”

Unbelievable …

Haley tried to put the kibosh on a Ku Klux Klan rally earlier this spring (one we later learned was organized by a government informant), but she wound up permitting the demonstration to take place.

Because, you know … the First Amendment and all.

This cancellation is even more egregious because it targets a celebration of secession … not necessarily white supremacism.  And while there’s certainly a credible argument to be made that this particular group espouses both views, that’s not a compelling rationale for silencing their voices.

In a free society there is no rationale for silencing voices.

Haley’s denial of a permit for this event is an outrage.  It is a prima facie violation of the First Amendment, and South Carolina taxpayers are likely going to be deprived of hundreds of thousands of dollars when this organization successfully brings a lawsuit against the state.

***

Related posts

SC

South Carolina Dance Star Missing, Abandoned Vehicle Found Near Congaree Park

Callie Lyons
SC

Keeping The Peace At Solid Rock

Callie Lyons
SC

Flooding Temporarily Shuts Down Hunting Season In South Carolina

Erin Parrott

78 comments

Lone Ranger December 11, 2015 at 4:36 pm

Why yes, Mr. Folks—I AM a psychiatrist—lie down on my sofa and tell me why you FINALLY think your support of flag-ripping Haley and Joe Wilson was inane

How’s that?…you FINALLY see that SC’s legislature and U.S. House members WILL get handed their heads?…why yes they WILL and you ARE…insane !!!

Reply
Bible Thumper December 11, 2015 at 4:40 pm

Inane and insane. Are you a poet also?

Reply
Tonto December 11, 2015 at 4:46 pm

What do you know? The confederates lost AGAIN!
Does Trump know a bunch of losers are endorsing him?

Reply
Lone Ranger December 11, 2015 at 4:48 pm

Tonto–NO relation to Tonto–seemed to like being full of crap
And he also likes YOUR paying for his Obama phone–Section 8 & SNAP !!!

Reply
Tonto December 11, 2015 at 4:50 pm

Hi pogo. I don’t particularly like paying for your government checks, but I do anyways.
You’re welcome.

Reply
Nathaniel December 11, 2015 at 5:13 pm

That’s KKKris KKKorley in drag.

Lone Ranger December 11, 2015 at 5:18 pm

Nathaniel–like “Tonto”–thought patriots were a football team because they were ungrateful fellas
And both have decided to let YOU defend their freedom because–yes–BOTH of them are yella !!!

Trump lies December 11, 2015 at 5:24 pm

I was wondering what to get you for Xmas? I just wanted to show my appreciation for all you have done to help the Democrats win the White House next year. You and your peers have worked tirelessly to destroy the GOP from within and it makes things so much easier come election time! Maybe a confederate flag blanket you can wrap yourself up in and cry after your next unavoidable loss. Happy Holidays and thanks again!

Lone Ranger December 11, 2015 at 5:25 pm

Trump lies stepped in cow pies and thought it was a plus
But then he thought the birth of Christ was just…”Xmas !!! “

Trump lies December 11, 2015 at 5:35 pm

Whatever you say. Just keep up the stellar work. You guys need to be even more vocal, though. The primaries begin soon. You must make sure Trump wins in SC! Thanks to you and your friends the entire GOP has been branded the party of racists and bigots by the majority of voters. Without people like you the GOP could have maybe been able to keep that knowledge under wraps, but the cat’s out of the bag. Too late! So, I hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season and that you celebrate that Middle Eastern, liberal Jesus’ birthday with more hate speech and racism. Cheers!

Lone Ranger December 11, 2015 at 6:55 pm

Trump lies despised that Karl Rove was his daddy and remained dumber than well a stump
But like all his RINO friends who got handed their rear ends…they could not stop President Trump !!!

Trump lies December 11, 2015 at 7:14 pm

Are you gunning for two presents this Xmas?
Don’t temp me, pogo ;-)

Lone Ranger December 11, 2015 at 7:27 pm

trump lies was quite surprised when his English grades went limp
He couldn’t spell–his politics smelled–and he spelled “tempt”…”temp !!! “

William Aiton December 13, 2015 at 8:34 pm

Tonto We all lost in that war. Read and understand the constitution before you declare winners or losers. We are Jeffersonian.

Reply
Lone Ranger December 14, 2015 at 12:29 pm

William actually thought because a nation “lost” in a war we should be ingrates and trash the patriots who served
But the Tea Train remembers-Flag-Ripping-Haley and Joe Wilson & William and will give them what they deserve !!!

Reply
Crooner December 11, 2015 at 4:44 pm

So they want to celebrate an event that led to hundreds of thousands of our ancestors dying? Yeah, I don’t want them on MY statehouse grounds, either. Go find someplace else.

Reply
Lone Ranger December 11, 2015 at 4:46 pm

Crooner thought patriots were a football team because he’s an ungrateful fella
But now he WILL let you defend his freedom since he has always been yella !!!

Reply
pogo KO'd December 11, 2015 at 5:43 pm

Nikki slapped the living fucking shit out of you AGAIN!
An anchor baby, brown skinned girl knocked you guys out cold.
You look like Mama June after 15 seconds with Holly Holm in the Octagon.
Only more stupid.

Reply
opengovernmentup December 11, 2015 at 5:24 pm

Hindsite is always perfect. At the time it made sense to them. I bet Chamberlain could have kicked himself “afterwards”.

Reply
Paul Harvey December 11, 2015 at 4:48 pm

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

“Except the congress of South Carolina.”

Reply
erneba December 11, 2015 at 4:50 pm

“It is a prima facie violation of the First Amendment,..”
It certainly seems that way.
I would not attend an event like that, but I think those people have every right in the world to protest their grievances.

Reply
Bible Thumper December 11, 2015 at 4:53 pm

Tyler Bessenger, the founder has a Ron Paul tatoo. Pretty dangerous if you ask me. ;-)
http://m.charlestoncitypaper.com/TheBattery/archives/2015/09/09/got-problems-with-federalism-check-out-the-sc-secessionist-party

Reply
erneba December 11, 2015 at 5:01 pm

I agree, but even despicable characters have constitutional rights.
;-)

Reply
Tazmaniac December 11, 2015 at 5:36 pm

I think it is best to have grown ass, mildly retarded, dumb asses in sheets out in the daylight so your kids and grand kids can just come see the dullards and realize how pathetic and how few there are. As a kid i lived in Pine hills adjacent to Ocoee, Fl., the famous white trash town full of actual “god fearing” KKK idiots who blamed all their self-inflicted problems associated with dumbassery on “dim joose and nigars”. On halloween they would ride around in pickup loads with their dress whites on to “protect” us. Man the rocks and such thrown at those idiots and they kept coming back. Point being when you actually get up close to the zoo animals and see them for what they really are it takes their power away.

Reply
Knob Ends December 11, 2015 at 5:38 pm

What about the nice young men at the Citadel?
AmeriKKKa’s finest.

Reply
Tazmaniac December 11, 2015 at 5:43 pm

You have to be able to distinguish the fake dummies goofing around with something they no nothing of and the Real dipped in shit McCoys.Poor taste is what that seemed to be.

Reply
Knob Ends December 11, 2015 at 5:46 pm

More like institutionalized racism in a publicly funded school.
Which is far more concerning than uneducated taters with no power or control over anything.

Marty Gantt December 11, 2015 at 8:22 pm

See WRONG if you knew anything of KKK their Ugly ass White Sheets look nothing like what those young Men were wearing at the Citadel. Their Ghost Costumes were for the Ghosts of Christmas Past and we’re singing Christmas Carols. Just WOW

Reply
erneba December 11, 2015 at 5:55 pm

I agree, they are people that you really don’t want to be around. I am surprised they are still around. The problem with refusing to allow a protest by these people is does the bar get moved upward for the next group. The first thing you know, you will have some governmental group approving who can protest.
Allowing these people to gather and protest would ensure that everyone’s rights are being protected.

Reply
Tazmaniac December 11, 2015 at 6:01 pm

I begrudgingly agree they need their rights protected. We should always turn our backs on Government tyranny no matter how unsympathetic their target is.

Reply
Marty Gantt December 11, 2015 at 8:16 pm

This is not a Protest. It’s a Sovereignty Rally that happened 150 years ago which is for our Falling Heroes that Died for Dixie!! KKK is not and NEVER has been a part of the Confederacy and they are not and Never would be a part of this Rally! BLM, FYO911 are causing all the Problems. If you are going to be in this Conversation, know that Facts!

Reply
erneba December 11, 2015 at 8:31 pm

I stand corrected, Your rally…

Stickler Vertango December 11, 2015 at 8:40 pm

Polite as always,sir.
Working all day but I did go back and see what a fool you made of those clowns on the ‘trump’ thread today.
Keep up the good work. It was 10-1 and you nailed em!

erneba December 11, 2015 at 8:56 pm

Thank you very much. I had to leave that thread early, too many trolls. But that is the nature of an open blog.
You don’t know who you are dealing with when people keep changing their name.
To me, it is a bit cowardly to use another identity. I think maybe some of them were using different handles. I think I have been down the road with some of them before today, using different handles.
But that is ok, and I really do enjoy pissing them off at times.
I think they were the same people I was dealing with on Thursday on a different Thread.
Does not matter, they are more inconvenient than substantial..

tomstickler December 12, 2015 at 3:19 pm

“You don’t know who you are dealing with when people keep changing their name.”

Who do you think “Stickler Vertango” really is?

Rocky Verdad December 11, 2015 at 10:00 pm

So it’s a rally to celebrate losing? Bless your Southern heart.

Marty Gantt December 14, 2015 at 4:43 pm

And you Rocky are a Joke

Burningspeare December 11, 2015 at 10:19 pm

The Confederacy was a group of lazy bastards who wanted Africans to do their work while they raped Black women & children. Once the greys were destroyed they went underground in the form of the KKK.

Marty Gantt December 14, 2015 at 4:41 pm

Boy where ever you went to school your Parents need to sue for they lied to you. If you really cared, you would do research and find out the Truth. The Confederacy did not kill rape hang people. The KKK originated with the Democrats and that had nothing to do with the Confederacy they used the Confederate Battle Flag as they used Old Glory for their Rallies. Stop showing your Ignorance and do something Positive and Research History.

Stickler Vertango December 11, 2015 at 8:37 pm

100% correct!

Reply
TankMcNamara December 11, 2015 at 4:54 pm

They aren’t being denied access or entry onto the State House grounds. They can visit the grounds and and have an “unofficial” rally there if they want. And as someone that remembers the mayhem that occurred July 18, 2015, I think the “safety concerns” are valid.

Reply
Bible Thumper December 11, 2015 at 5:01 pm

It won’t be as dangerous this time. It won’t be in hot July and hopefully they will bring lawn chairs and EMS will be close by if one of them has a stroke, hypertension, or their oxygen tank runs out.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/us/black-south-carolina-trooper-explains-why-he-embraced-a-white-supremacist.html?referer=

Reply
nitrat December 11, 2015 at 5:00 pm

If the Nazis could march in Skokie, IL in 1978, the Klan and the Secessionist Party can march here in 2015 or whenever they want.

Call the ACLU, they’re the go to people of these issues.

Reply
Mom December 11, 2015 at 5:04 pm

Okeydokey then. Well there are a lot of “controversial groups that could spark controversy and safety concerns” if allowed to protest at the S.C. Statehouse. We will assume that the governor’s office had inside information involving threats to public safety.

Reply
Bible Thumper December 11, 2015 at 5:05 pm

Maybe Black Lives Matter was going to counter protest.

Reply
Mom December 11, 2015 at 5:09 pm

Could be true.

Reply
DeoPatria December 11, 2015 at 8:14 pm

Bull hockey. The Left has a win-win strategy – 1) the Flag is ALWAYS racist, and 2) one may never see a Flag in any positive situation. And so, with the permit revocation, we shall not have the protections of an “official” rally, even though such was given to out-of-state KKK/neo-nazi and NBPP racist groups. This rally is not only not racist, our keynote speaker has been called all sorts of racial epithets online – just as the trolls are doing here. Without police protection, the racists can come and attempt to hijack the event – which is the goal. Gov. Haley and her minions are doing everything they can to honor what Dylann Roof wanted – because racial reconciliation has NEVER been the goal of the race baiters. As for me, I’ve gone to Charleston, was in Columbia the last time, sat and endured two hours of Jesse “the Spitter” Jackson (who said “everyone knows the Flag is not all racist”) and am looking forward to this event to support our past and present Constitutionalists.

Reply
Stickler Vertango December 11, 2015 at 8:23 pm

Haley is pro-abortion and is trying to give cover for this:

Attorney General Mike DeWine’s report that aborted fetuses from Planned Parenthood clinics in Columbus and Cincinnati were “steam-cooked and taken to a Kentucky landfill” .

After a five-month investigation, DeWine concluded that three Planned Parenthood clinics in Ohio improperly disposed of aborted fetal parts in landfills, a violation Ohio Administrative Code 3701-47-05, which requires that a “fetus shall be disposed of in a humane manner.” That section of the code does not define a humane manner.

DeWine, a Republican abortion opponent, said in a press conference, “Cooking and disposing of fetuses is not humane. It will come as a shock to Ohioans that fetal remains are being mixed in with yesterday’s garbage.”

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/12/11/attorney-general-fetal-remains.html

Reply
No petitions or assembly! December 11, 2015 at 5:14 pm

Nikkie Haley=King George

Reply
jimlewisowb December 11, 2015 at 7:23 pm

So General Le-Roy is now the hand up the skirt of the Gypsy Queen

If I were a member of the Tillman family, I would be inclined to drive a MF Tractor on the State House grounds, pull Ben’s statute down and drag it back home to Edgefield County

Fuckin’ Cockroaches

Reply
Joe Bauers December 11, 2015 at 7:57 pm

Its always amusing to see the simpletons judge our past by todays social norms.

Reply
Burningspeare December 11, 2015 at 10:12 pm

Slavery was never a social norm. At the conclusion of the Civil War all the uniform Confederates should have faced a firing squad without a blindfold.

Reply
Joe Bauers December 12, 2015 at 4:50 pm

You should probably bone up on your history or just continue your mindless troll job. Whatever floats your boat.

Reply
Braxton 'Bud' Spivey December 11, 2015 at 8:06 pm

WE WILL BE THERE !! WE WONT BACK DOWN !!

Reply
Stickler Vertango December 11, 2015 at 8:18 pm

Nikki and liberals like her are NASTY BITCHES.
Just today we learned that in Ohio that Planned Parenthood doesn’t sell aborted children.They COOK EM and dump em in landfills.

Fucking animals.Liberals.THE Democrat Party.

Nikki is a fraud and why she covers for Planned Parenthood in SC.

Reply
Rocky Verdad December 11, 2015 at 10:02 pm

Lexington Ohio?

Reply
Stickler Vertango December 11, 2015 at 10:54 pm

Keep fucking with me.

Reply
nitrat December 12, 2015 at 5:29 pm

Call the ACLU. They will really help you do it, Bud.
You really need to.

Reply
Burningspeare December 11, 2015 at 10:07 pm

That damn rag should be buried six ft. in the earth never to be seen again. Traitors deserve death. You would never suggest honoring the swastika or any symbol of the Nazis.

Reply
Burningspeare December 11, 2015 at 10:25 pm

“SC is too small to a republic and too large to an insane asylum.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqNGDCHFzno

Reply
denmarkvessey December 11, 2015 at 10:32 pm

A more accurate statement is, SC is too small to be a Republic but just right for an insane asylum.

Reply
nitrat December 12, 2015 at 5:28 pm

Hell, no, it ain’t too large to be an asylum.
All you got to do is look around.

Reply
Dean Allen December 12, 2015 at 2:14 am

If the state of South Carolina cannot protect a few knuckleheads for two hours, they are pretty pathetic. Do they really want us to believe a few left wing radicals are more powerful than the state police? The Governor should just be honest and say only certain sorts of speech fit in her carefully crafted new moderate persona and she will not allow any dissent.
Many of these groups, left and right, white and black, are from out of state and just use our statehouse grounds in pathetic efforts to get themselves 15 seconds of fame.
If there were legitimate security concerns, it would be easy to just allow everyone inside the building. Put magnetometers on the doors, and prohibit weapons, flags, signs & so forth.
Fits News is 100% correct, this is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Like a lot of tea party folks, I helped Nikki get elected. I will never again vote for any ticket she is on. I used to think term limits were a good thing. After seeing how an unaccountable lame duck can turn on the very people who elected her; I have changed my mind. Term limits only work if there is also recall possible as in Wisconsin.

Reply
nitrat December 12, 2015 at 5:27 pm

I don’t know what alternative universe you live in, but I don’t think the SC Secessionist Party is ‘left wing radicals’.

Reply
Dean Allen December 13, 2015 at 6:18 pm

Nitrat, You misunderstood me. You need to be protected from the left wing radicals, at least according to the state troopers. Again, I think that would be easy to do. Instead, they want to den you a permit. I believe in free speech and I am very disappointed in the Governor I helped elect.

Reply
Carolynrparks December 13, 2015 at 11:55 pm

?my neighbor’s aunty is making $98 HOURLY on the internet?….A few days ago new McLaren F1 subsequent after earning 18,512$,,,this was my previous month’s paycheck ,and-a little over, $17k Last month ..3-5 h/r of work a day ..with extra open doors & weekly paychecks.. it’s realy the easiest work I have ever Do.. I Joined This 7 months ago and now making over $87, p/h..Learn More right Here….
4otz…..
??
??? http://GlobalSuperEmploymentVacanciesReportHigh/GetPaid/$98hourly… ?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?

Reply
Jamitoliver December 14, 2015 at 12:10 am

?my neighbor’s aunty is making $98 HOURLY on the internet?….A few days ago new McLaren F1 subsequent after earning 18,512$,,,this was my previous month’s paycheck ,and-a little over, $17k Last month ..3-5 h/r of work a day ..with extra open doors & weekly paychecks.. it’s realy the easiest work I have ever Do.. I Joined This 7 months ago and now making over $87, p/h..Learn More right Here….
4xtx….
??
??? http://GlobalSuperEmploymentVacanciesReportBat/GetPaid/$98hourly… ?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?

Reply
Spoonman44 December 12, 2015 at 4:09 am

Why beg permission to assemble ?

Reply
Elfego December 12, 2015 at 9:16 am

This dual Justice System in America and we not accepting the fact that America is a Constitutional Republic along with the ridding of God will destroy America.

Reply
ThreePalms December 12, 2015 at 12:30 pm

I remember how pissed all of you got when she chased off the OWS guys on the Statehouse grounds a few years ago.

I imagine Haley is confident that she can get away with type of stunt again.
Especially since secessionist types are dumber than dirt.

Reply
nitrat December 12, 2015 at 5:24 pm

yeah, but she lost in court over Occupy, remember?

Reply
TSIB December 12, 2015 at 2:05 pm

“This website led the fight to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the S.C. State House”

“Led the fight,” LOL, sheeee-it.

Reply
Mike at the Beach December 13, 2015 at 1:04 am

Was this from the same clown who issued the two permits for the simultaneous pro / anti-flag demonstrations that almost got furry?

Reply
William Aiton December 13, 2015 at 8:43 pm

Good job FitsNews. Fair

Reply
aghae0laemee December 14, 2015 at 8:56 am

She has two shows a week.

Reply
ted December 14, 2015 at 10:08 am

Ah, Sikhism. According to a web search, the perfect marriage of Islam and Hindu. Whata ya expect?

Reply
Mark M. December 14, 2015 at 1:07 pm

Might want to brush up on your First Amendment…just sayin’.

Reply
Paco Sanchez December 15, 2015 at 2:46 am

You lying sack of shit. You “led” no such thing.

Reply

Leave a Comment