City Wants Repayment: The city of Charleston has asked the State Ports Authority to help pay for law enforcement personnel used to deal with the protests.
Four longshoremen were indicted Tuesday on rioting and conspiracy charges stemming from a violent clash between workers and police early Jan. 20.
“Our position is that they’re not guilty of anything, and we expect them to be exonerated at trial, ” said Lionel Lofton, the lawyer for defendants Elijah Ford Jr. and Rickey Simmons.
Meanwhile, the city of Charleston has spent about $200, 000 on police to deal with the labor protests at the State Ports Authority, and Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. has asked the port to pick up at least part of the tab.
“I made them aware of the tremendous manpower allocation and requested that they consider some responsibility for that, ” Riley told City Council on Tuesday.
Several hundred Charleston police have joined other law enforcement officers at the Columbus Street Terminal off and on since last month, when the International Longshoremen’s Association began protested the Denmark-based Nordana Line’s decision not to use ILA longshoremen.
Several hundred police manned the terminal entrance during a Jan. 20 melee, where protesters tossed bottles and other debris and were met with tear gas and anti-riot guns firing bean-bag-like shots. Police arrested eight, while 10 people were sent to the hospital. The initial charges were dismissed, but four new indictments came down Thursday.
Ford, 39, of North Charleston also is charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, and Simmons, 26, of Charleston also is charged with resisting arrest.
Indicted along with them were fellow dockworkers Kenneth Jefferson, 41, of Charleston for rioting, conspiracy and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature; and Jason Edgerton, 22, of Mount Pleasant for rioting, conspiracy and resisting arrest.
“Participating in or instigating a riot is a very serious matter, ” said state Attorney General Charlie Condon, whose office is prosecuting the four members of the International Longshoremen’s Association.
Three of the four indicted were among eight men charged after the Jan. 20 riot.
A magistrate threw out those charges last week after Condon’s office failed to present evidence identifying the men as being present at the riot. A ninth man, Jefferson, turned himself in to be charged after admitting to police that his picture appeared in The Post and Courier swinging a pipe at a police officer the night of the riot.
Condon said police are continuing their investigation of the men who originally had been charged, as well as others involved that night. The next grand jury meets next month.
The four men indicted this week are expected to turn themselves in at a bail hearing later this week before a circuit judge.
Jefferson was already free on $150, 000 bail with the conditions that he cannot attend any port demonstrations or go within 100 yards of SPA property.
Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature is a felony with a 10-year maximum prison sentence. Both rioting and criminal conspiracy are felonies with maximum prison sentences of five years each.
The rest of the union - and anyone else who might support them - also are under the restrictions of a judge’s order limiting the number of protesters to 19.
The 19-protester limit was in place Feb. 1, when a Nordana ship quietly returned to the port. Protesters didn’t show up at all that day, but 600 police were at the port.
Charleston Chief Financial Officer Steve Bedard said the city still is calculating its cost for helping with the security, but he estimated it would come to about $200, 000 or more.
While Riley has asked the ports authority to share in the cost, he added, “the city is committed to providing the resources necessary to make sure order will be maintained, and I’m sure it will be. ”
State Highway Patrol, the State Law Enforcement Division and Charleston County Sheriff’s Office also have contributed forces, and the highway patrol even put officers up in hotels on several occasions.
State Ports Authority President and CEO Bernard S. Groseclose Jr. said late Tuesday that the agency had received some requests for reimbursement but had not made a decision. “We’ve not talked about it any detail, ” he said.
Councilman Wendell Gilliard said he recently was involved in an ILA meeting, and added, “They don’t hold any malice or hatred toward the city police department. I talked to some police officers, and they feel the same way.”
