Do Black bike week visitors face discrimination in Myrtle Beach? What a jury decided
In what amounted to essentially a win for Myrtle Beach, a federal jury found Myrtle Beach’s procedures during Memorial Day weekend were racially motivated. But, the city would have likely made the same decisions if race wasn’t a factor.
The jury handed down a split-verdict after more than three hours of deliberations Thursday. The nine-person jury ruled the city had a racial motivation in enacting the procedures for bike week.
But, the same jury also ruled that Myrtle Beach officials would have likely reached the same decision if it was not based on race and the loop would have been used regardless. That basically means the decisions are not in violation of the Civil Rights Act.
As a result, the city will not have to pay any money as result of the lawsuit.
The decision capped a week-long trial in Florence, South Carolina, where the NAACP and eight people detailed their case as it argued over the city’s use of additional police officers and a traffic detour.
In 2018, the national organization and several people filed the suit against the city. The NAACP alleged Myrtle Beach only used a 23-mile traffic loop during a weekend where most visitors are Black. Atlantic Beach bikefest is held every Memorial Day weekend — the 2020 event was canceled because of COVID-19 — but many visitors stay and ride in Myrtle Beach.
Myrtle Beach argued that the increased police presence and use of the traffic loop were safety measures implemented after a series of deadly shootings and other violence during the 2014 event. The NAACP contended the city’s actions during the weekend follow a pattern of behaviors to get Black people not to visit during the weekend.
“They wanted to suck the fun out of Myrtle Beach,” said Reed Colfax, who represented the NAACP during the trial.
Colfax said the evidence showed the city’s procedures did not reduce crime or better response. He noted Myrtle Beach only put the measures into place after the 2014 event, when there was no evidence the violence was tied to the event.
Myrtle Beach also did not make similar changes after other violent weekends in recent years, Colfax said.
The loop was designed to improve traffic flow, but Colfax said it did the opposite as people were stuck in the loop for hours, and the area becomes congested.
“If this really was the purpose,” Colfax said, “the loop was a complete failure.”
The NAACP was not part of the city’s and county’s’ discussions after the 2014 weekend to address public safety, and has been turned away in recent years when it tried to raise concerns, Colfax said. The reason for Myrtle Beach’s decisions was simple, he said.
“Public safety was not the goal,” Colfax said. “Ending Black Bike Week was the goal.”
City attorneys say the procedures helped ease traffic congestion and make it easier for first responders to navigate Ocean Boulevard. They also said the traffic loop can be canceled early on a particular night or not used at all, as was the case for most of the 2019 event.
Michael Battle, who represented Myrtle Beach, said it appeared the changes have led to a reduction in violence during Memorial Day weekend.
“2019 is a good example of where it worked. We did not have to use it at all,” Battle said of the loop.
The city listened to all concerns about the procedures, Battle said, and added that just because there weren’t changes, doesn’t mean they weren’t heard. He told the jury that if they found the NAACP’s favor, the court case would likely continue — a reference to a likely appeal.
The reasons for police procedures changes for Memorial Day weekend were simple, Battle said.
“This case is not about race,” Battle said. “This case is about people, and this case is about public safety.”
Officials from the NAACP and Myrtle Beach declined to comment in the verdict’s aftermath. City leaders later released a statement about the verdict.
“The City of Myrtle Beach appreciates the opportunity to explain the traffic management and safety plan for the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Bikefest and today’s thoughtful decision by the federal court jury in Florence,” it read. “The jury’s decision confirmed that the safety plan was the right plan for the event, given the number of people, vehicles and pedestrians and the violence and other safety challenges which arose through the years. The public’s safety always has been and will continue to be the city’s top priority.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 4:41 PM.
