Over half a dozen people have been arrested after a Fourth of July block party in North Charleston’s Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood erupted into violence and a video of a police officer being attacked spread widely online.
Officers first responded Saturday around 8:30 p.m. after getting reports of gunfire and people firing fireworks toward passing vehicles, police said. Authorities say they made repeated announcements that the event had ended and directed people to leave in an effort to de-escalate.
Police say the situation escalated anyway with fights breaking out, more shots fired and officers leaving their patrol cars to separate people and restore order. During the response, police say they recovered multiple firearms and a makeshift spear, and that two officers, both women, suffered minor injuries.
A total of seven arrests were made in the block party incident: four minors and three adults.
Dejuan Ravenel, 21, of Charleston, was arrested in connection with stealing a Taser and loaded gun magazines from one of the police officers who had been assaulted. He is charged with unlawful taking of a weapon from law enforcement.
Giovanni Mekhi Sincere Campbell, 19, of North Charleston, faces a charge of possession of a machine gun, and Sa’Mya Adriana Collette Weaver, 18, faces charges of breach of the peace and assault on police while resisting arrest.
Officers also received information identifying Ravenel as the person who took the equipment from the officer, who was assaulted during the incident. They determined that he was possibly staying at an apartment complex in the West Ashley area. Officers followed him after they saw Ravenel leave the apartment and enter the back seat of a vehicle. They followed the vehicle to a restaurant, where he was taken into custody after leaving.
They later executed a search warrant at the apartment, where they recovered the stolen Taser and loaded gun magazines.
North Charleston mayor Reggie Burgess, a former officer, said police were trying to stop “bad actors” from causing harm and that the neighborhood should not be defined by the incident.
“We’re not going to let this incident define the city of North Charleston,” Burgess said. “We’re not going to let a few define this community.”
Burgess said officers still must keep control of their emotions even while being cursed at or attacked.
“You still have to maintain the level of peace,” he said. “That’s why we’re called peacemakers.”
He also urged people not to broadly blame parents or the community for what happened, saying accountability should fall on those involved.
“We’re quick to blame the parents,” Burgess said. “We have to hold those young people accountable … The problem is those individuals.”
Several community leaders said they want more context about what happened before the viral clip, including body-worn camera footage.
Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III, vice president of religious affairs and external relations for the National Action Network and pastor of Charity Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, said video clips can be incomplete.
“We don’t know what went down. We don’t know what happened before the cameras turned on,” Rivers said. “What made the young people escalate? What happened?”
Community advocate Thomas Dixon said he was grateful no one was killed but also wants to see what led up to the incident.
“It was extremely commendable that there were no weapons discharged other than the taser,” Dixon said. “That could have very well gone bad quickly.”
Dixon said the attack seen in the video should not be excused.
“What I saw on there was a total disrespect and disregard … for adults and for authority,” he said. “They should never have done that.”
Elder James Johnson, CEO of the National Racial Justice Network Civil Rights Organization, said he has watched multiple videos and is asking community members to send him footage as he calls for transparency.
“I think it’s more to the video than what’s out there,” Johnson said. “We want to see all the video.”
Johnson said he does not condone violence against police but believes the public should see the full context before drawing conclusions.
“I don’t condone violence against policemen,” he said, “but police violence against citizens is wrong also.”
This incident remains under investigation.