Just don't stomp their flag.
Posted on 05/27/2014 12:03:23 PM PDT by Gamecock
Several shootings on Memorial Day weekend have Grand Strand officials on damage control working to spread the word to visitors and residents that the area is safe.
Three people were killed and seven injured in five confirmed shootings over the weekend, but Myrtle Beach Police Capt. David Knipes said there were several more reports of shootings or sounds of gunshots that were unconfirmed.
The violence struck a nerve with Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce President Brad Dean.
“Unfortunately, none of us are surprised, as the Memorial Day motorcycle rally continues to create unanswered challenges for the community and visitors,” he said. “Safety is a necessity for a tourism destination to thrive and no amount of publicity and promotion will counter the bad publicity generated this weekend.”
“The senseless acts of criminals and unruly visitors have once again marred what should have been a stellar weekend celebrating our armed forces and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of America.” He said the Chamber is working with “promotional partners to do what little we can to counter the negative publicity and assure those visitors planning a trip to the Myrtle Beach area that our community values their safety.”
State Rep. Tracy Edge also issued a statement following the shootings saying the cities and law enforcement need to “take back the streets and make the Grand Strand safer for residents, business owners and visitors.”
Edge said additional law enforcement assistance should be used next year.
“While there were times when things appeared that police were fighting an uphill battle we never have seen the type of lawlessness and violence seen this weekend,” he said. “Therefore I pledge to area municipalities and area law enforcement agencies and I promise to the people in Horry County and along the Grand Strand that we will bring back hundreds of state officers next year, provided that we are asked by local authorities to do so.”
Not all believe the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day BikeFest crowds are to blame, and no connection has been made between any of the shootings and the rally. Atlantic Beach Town Manager William Booker said the shootings are tragic, but doesn’t think they were related to the town’s annual event.
“We had nothing of that magnitude,” he said. “We had no problems in Atlantic Beach. We had no arrests and we had very few citations ... From our perspective what happened in Myrtle Beach was totally unrelated.”
No arrests had been made as of Monday evening. Last year, Myrtle Beach had two homicides. To see three in one night was concerning, Knipes said.
“It’s a very high and alarming number,” he said.
Jamie Williams, 28, of Ladson, and Devonte Dantzler, 21, and Sandy Gaddis Barnwell, 22, both of Summerville, were pronounced dead by Horry County Deputy Coroner Darris Fowler on Saturday. Fowler said all three died from trauma to vital organs due to gunshot wounds sustained during a shooting at Bermuda Sands Resort on 1st Avenue North.
Officers responded at about 11 p.m. Saturday to a reported large fight outside the Bermuda Sands. Three shots were fired before police arrived, striking Keith Williams. As police were providing medical attention to Keith Williams, those involved in the fight moved to the second floor of Bermuda Sands, according to the release.
After about five minutes, officers said the shooter then went to the second floor of the hotel and fired several shots at Jamie Williams, Dantzler and Barnwell, who police say were involved in the fight.
Police believe the shooter fled the rear of the hotel.
Jamie Williams and Dantzler died immediately, and Barnwell and Keith Williams were taken to Grand Strand with gunshot wounds. Barnwell was pronounced dead at the hospital.
On Saturday, another person was injured in a shooting at 6th Avenue South and Ocean Boulevard, two were injured in a shooting at 8th Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard and one was shot in the leg at the Fountain Bleu Motel at 7th Avenue North and Flagg Street.
On Sunday, two were injured in a shooting at the Wave Rider Resort at 1600 South Ocean Boulevard.
Knipes said every available officer was working this weekend. He said changes to enforcement in years ahead have not yet been discussed.
“It’s too early to tell,” he said Monday. “It’s not over. We haven’t looked at stats or sat down and discussed things. It’s not just a police issue, but a community issue that will have to be discussed over time.
“Most of the crowd is not on bikes,” Knipes said. “They could be here because of the BikeFest, but it’s hard to tell.”
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/05/26/3469158/weekend-of-violence-has-myrtle.html?sp=%2F99%2F205%2F&ihp=1#storylink=cpy
advertised as Black Bike Week.
That’s RACIST!
Wheels of Soul?
This year the NAACP, under “Operation Bike Week Justice” is suing businesses in Myrtle Beach for being closed during Memorial Day weekend.
They involve the Justice Department and the Justice Department forces arbitration, which results in monetary settlements without the more formal court proceedings.
Meanwhile the violence gets worse. This year there were 3 murders in one incident of mayhem, exceeding the annual murder rate for Myrtle Beach.
“The NAACP vows litigation vengeance if the Myrtle Beach Mayor tries to stop the violence or cancel future events.”
If it said “Black Biker Week” then yes, but black bikes are generally assumed to be Harley’s?
We were in Garden City a few years ago during Black Bike Week. Only noticed a couple of Black Bikers who drove that far south: as far as you can go on the Oceanside road.
That said, it seems like any event organized as “blacks doing something” goes bad. Black people go to all kinds of events with no problems, but if there’s an event that’s “specially black” (or “urban” or “hip-hop”), then violence ensues.
I wonder if that’s true of other ethnicities. I know there are problems with some Latino events, like “Puerto Rican Parade” in New York, but is that an exception or a rule?
Just don't stomp their flag.
There’s a family in my subdivision that flies a Puerto Rico flag. Since I have a Texas flag, I can’t object ;-).
Hmm, not in the story. PC rides again.
NOW it’s clear why there are no pictures of perpetrators or victims in the posted article.
Went to MB for the first time since I was a kid in summer of 2012. An unappealing combo of a touch of Spring Break, a sprinkle Urban (Black Bike week types), and a pinch of White Trash. I now see the billboards on I-95 claiming MB was somehow selected as best beach and I laugh.
When I lived in Sacramento there was speciality ethnic/race days at the California State Fair. Every time Black day rolled around there would be news stories about shootings, stabbings, and mayhem. The people who run the Fair finally wised up and got rid of those days.
South Carolina Ping
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Like I said, black people can come to a church picnic or a Scout campout or a neighborhood carnival or a Memorial Day parade, and they act like everyone else. However, a “Black event” seems to bring out the people who want to act like hoodlums, while decent people stay home.
SC ping.
We go to Garden City, south of Myrtle Beach, every few years, because my mother-in-law lives there. It’s quiet there, but if you go too far south, the beach is eroding badly. We were there last year in early June, which was rainy.
This year we’re going to Surf City, on Topsail Island in North Carolina.
Thanks I wish the city had some backbone and stand up to the NAACP.
Better yet, cancel the whole thing. I'm sure businesses thought this might have been a good idea, once, but it's clear it hasn't worked out that way. Unfortunately this has probably become an "entitlement" to too many, and some judge will think so too. So they're probably stuck with it.
Freepmail me if you want on the SC ping list.
They can't. They can't stop people of a particular race from coming to a particular place on particular dates.
They can enforce nuisance-abatement laws - public drunkenness, nudity, noise, no-turn-signal, and so on. Occupancy guidelines for lodging could be enforced. Businesses should be allowed to close at will.
Apart from that, one runs afoul of free speech and free association rights. I think a motel should be allowed to say, "I won't rent to a black person during this time period," but that's not within the current understanding of civil rights.
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