wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |"Occupy Columbia" protestors granted 15 extra days
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COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A legal filing posted by the United States District Court on Thursday says the Occupy Columbia protestors have been granted 15 extra days to stay on the grounds of the State House on a temporary restraining order.
The extension comes after criminal charges were dropped against all 19 protestors who were arrested after defying an eviction order from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
The legal brief says the restraining order will remain in effect until Dec. 15 at 5:00pm or until the court says otherwise.
According to Mark Schnee, an attorney representing the group, Gov. Haley's office, law enforcement officials, attorneys and every other defendant in this case agreed to the extension.
The Governor's Office responded to the extension. "We have a group here that has lived on the grounds, destroyed public property, used the statehouse flower beds as a toilet, and now we're being told that there is one set of rules for occupy columbia and another set for everyone else. It's unacceptable, and the governor disagrees with this decision."
On Nov. 16, Gov. Haley ordered the Bureau of Protective Services to arrest anyone rallying on State House grounds after sunset, hoping to end 'Occupy Columbia's 33 days of constant protests. Haley complained of public urination and toilet paper strewn in bushes.
Amid driving rain, BPS officers arrested the 19 protesters just after 6:00 p.m. They were transported to jail and charged them with Trespassing for illegal use of the State House grounds.
Those charges carried a fine of up to $470.
They were scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 14 to answer to those charges, but that won't happen because 5th Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson dropped the charges Wednesday night.
"After a thorough investigation of the charges levied against the 19 individuals arrested on the South Carolina State House Grounds pursuant to Section 10-11-20 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, which is entitled "Unauthorized Use of State House or Grounds," said Johnson. "I have determined that although the officers were acting under the direction of the Governor, there is not enough evidence to prove all elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, I am dismissing all 19 charges."
Protestor Tim Liszewski was happy to have the charges dropped.
"I'm very gratified," said Liszewski. "I'm actually surprised. So perhaps this system isn't as broken as I had once thought. But still, you know we need to keep working at things because there's a lot that's not working in both our local, state and national government and we need to get that working again."
Related stories:
Occupy Columbia protestors to take case to federal court
Arrested 'Occupy Charleston' protestors allowed back in park
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