Lowcountry ‘Watchdog’ Arrest: Revealing Records

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by WILL FOLKS

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To hear some in the South Carolina Lowcountry tell it, the January 2025 arrest (and August 2025 conviction) of a self-proclaimed Palmetto State “watchdog” was a targeted attempt by powerful politicians to silence his First Amendment rights.

Allies of 76-year-old Calvin Coral “Skip” Hoagland – a MAGA-identifying, rabble-rousing blowhard from Naples, Florida – insist his recent political “persecution” was a travesty of justice. They see Hoagland as a martyr – the victim of an unlawful incarceration effectuated by a sprawling conspiracy that goes to the highest levels of state government.

The truth? As with anything involving Hoagland, there’s much more to the story than he and his defenders would have you believe.

Hoagland – whom this reporter has referred to in the past as “insufferably antagonistic and menacingly vulgar” – is known for talking a big game but failing to deliver the goods. Nearly a decade ago, he brought an important case before the S.C. supreme court regarding tourism marketing agencies which receive taxpayer funding. Unfortunately, he lost – dealing a tremendous setback to legitimate efforts by others to hold quasi-government agencies accountable for their spending of taxpayer dollars.

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“Hoagland’s irrational bellicosity and baseless bullying has grown beyond tiresome – to the point it has completely undermined any good he ever did (or tried to do),” I noted in 2023 article detailing one of his previous run-ins with local law enforcement.

As FITSNews reported back in January, Hoagland was arrested by officers of the Bluffton Police Department (BPD) and charged with trespassing after he refused to leave a meeting of the Beaufort County Republican Party (BCGOP) held at Bluffton’s Downtown Deli on January 27, 2025.

Hoagland insisted he was “set-up” – that his arrest was somehow “directed” by Beaufort County sheriff PJ Tanner and S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson. The state’s top prosecutor appears to have been dragged into the drama because he happened to arrive at the venue at the precise moment Hoagland was being led from the building in handcuffs.

Hoagland’s membership in the local GOP had been revoked two years prior, per county party chairman Kevin Hennelly. Hoagland was also informed by Hennelly prior to the event that he would “not be admitted” to the gathering.

Given that the Beaufort GOP is a private organization – and was hosting its event on private property – Hoagland was escorted from its premises after he refused to leave voluntarily.

Months later, Hoagland was convicted on the trespassing charge he was hit with following the event – and sentenced to spend thirty days behind bars at the Beaufort County detention center.

Three days later, however, Hoagland was released early from the detention facility – ostensibly due to political pressure applied by S.C. first district congresswoman Nancy Mace.

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Here is Alan Wilson holding the door for 78yo Skip Hoagland as he was arrested for peacefully showing up to his event.

Hoagland was set to sit in jail for two weeks for peacefully showing up to an Alan Wilson event.

Instead, when we posted about it, he was immediately… pic.twitter.com/u9QkLQGufP

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) August 23, 2025

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According to Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina against Wilson, Hoagland “was set to sit in jail for two weeks for peacefully showing up to an Alan Wilson event.”

“Instead, when we posted about it, he was immediately released,” Mace wrote. “Sunlight is the best medicine.”

Hoagland’s early release remains the subject of considerable speculation – especially after Beaufort County councilman Thomas Reitz conducted a highly unorthodox visit with Hoagland during the former’s brief stay at the detention center this summer.

Reitz’s visit (and the contraband he allegedly took with him into the jail) prompted an investigation by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO). The findings of that inquiry were recently released under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and later obtained by this media outlet.

Unfortunately, the investigatory report (.pdf) has raised more questions than it answered – prompting our media outlet to submit additional FOIAs to BCSO as part of our ongoing inquiries into this matter.

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According to BCSO investigators, Hoagland had quite an eventful three-day stay at the county detention center – making 129 phone calls to various individuals in addition to receiving the aforementioned visit from councilman Reitz.

“During these calls Inmate Hoagland lie(d) to many of these people, claiming he (was) locked up in solitary confinement for 23 to 24 hours a days and only allowed out for one hour to stretch and make a few telephone calls,” the report noted.

Hoagland also instructed his followers to contact Mace and lieutenant governor Pamela Evette, saying he needed a “pardon” or the “charges (against him) dropped,” according to investigators who reviewed the calls.

“He claims to have some ‘dirt’ on attorney general Alan Wilson and offers to give that to Ms. Mace and Ms. Evette if they will help get him released,” the report noted.

Hoagland also allegedly discussed doling out campaign contributions to politicians who helped secure his release.

The report also referenced several calls placed by Hoagland to a woman named Katina Beasley of Blackville, S.C.

“When Inmate Hoagland calls Ms. Beasley she refers to him as ‘Baby’ and both tell each other they love each other,” according to the report, adding Hoagland made other calls from the jail in an attempt to route $500 to Beasley.

In one call, Beasley told Hoagland she wanted to travel to the Mayo Clinic with him but he responded that she couldn’t come “because his wife was going with him.”

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RELATED | ‘WATCHDOG’ FOUND GUILTY OF TRESPASSING

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Hoagland specifically instructed Beasley to “lay low” during his period of incarceration, adding he “doesn’t want this to get out.” Both Hoagland and Beasley repeatedly told each other “I love you” and “I love you, too” on the calls, according to the report. Hoagland also allegedly told Beasley he would “get her some money” as soon as he was released from the facility.

Multiple references in the report indicate Hoagland was complaining about a lack of access to his medication while he was behind bars – including his inability to obtain his “low dose Oxycontin,” which he purportedly took daily due to “a pending double knee replacement surgery.”

During calls with his wife, Cathy Hoagland, he complained repeatedly about his lack of access to Oxycodone – saying “the jail will not let (me) have any.” Curiously, though, investigators later found Hoagland had “not received any Oxycontin” and had “not legally obtained any other narcotic pain medication since April 6, 2025.”

“It is unknown where or how he may be obtaining the medication he claims to be taking,” the report noted.

Even more curiously, Skip Hoagland’s complaints about pain medication ceased following councilman Reitz’s visit -which, incidentally, coincided with Hoagland promising to make substantial contributions to Reitz’s reelection campaign.

“Hoagland offered campaign donations to councilman Reitz in an apparent attempt to influence him to use his position as a councilman to come visit him in jail,” the report concluded.

According to the report, Cathy Hoagland told investigators her husband was in pain and needed his medications “so (Reitz) came by the house and picked up the medicine.”

Did Reitz provide Hoagland with illicit painkillers during his visit? And, if so, did he do so with the expectation of receiving campaign contributions for his trouble?

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Shortly after Cathy Hoagland’s admission, Skip Hoagland contacted the lead investigator on the case and claimed his wife was “suffering from a neurological condition that causes her to forget things.” After he (Skip Hoagland) spoke to her about the matter, “she recalled she did not give Mr. Reitz any medications and that she needed to meet with (BCSO) again to change her statement.”

Cathy Hoagland did revise her statement several days later, stating that “after speaking with her husband she now recalls that she did not give any medications to (Reitz).”

Reitz also denied receiving prescription medication from Cathy Hoagland or providing prescription medication to Skip Hoagland – and denied reports that he “told others that he brought Mr. Hoagland his medication as a favor to Mrs. Hoagland.” According to Reitz, he merely “told people he was going to the jail to find out how to get Skip his medicine and he is not responsible for them misunderstanding.”

Both Reitz and Skip Hoagland refused to take a polygraph examination regarding the allegation of Reitz “bringing pain medication into the jail.”

Also of interest? Hoagland allegedly tried “to influence (the) investigation” by telling the BCSO deputy he would “double (his) pay” if he were to “leave BCSO and come to work for him.”

Accordign to the report, Reitz’s visit exposed “numerous violations of policy and procedures” at the Beaufort County detention center – including Reitz being allowed to enter the facility with contraband and Hoagland being “allowed to walk around the facility at will” with his cell door “being left open or unlocked.”

Astonishingly, in light of all this, BCSO concluded its inquiries without recommending criminal charges against either Reitz or Hoagland.

“There is insufficient evidence for a criminal charge at this time,” the report concluded.

Or, more likely… there is insufficient interest on the part of county leaders to get to the bottom of what really happened here.

FITSNews is seeking copies of all documents and recordings (audio or video) from Hoagland’s stay at the detention center, as well as all documents and recordings related to Reitz’s visit. We are also strongly encouraging Beaufort County to refer the findings of its investigation to the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) for an independent review.

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THE RECORDS…

(BCSO)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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