Here are the cases that Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach classified as hate crimes
The Myrtle Beach area saw a drop in hate crimes reported in 2019 compared to 2018, but there were only a handful of cases reported in both years.
Horry County police agencies reported five hate crimes to the FBI in 2018. That figured dropped to three reported cases in 2019—but local officials say there were actually only two cases.
The data was released by the FBI earlier this year. Local police agencies report various crime statistics to the FBI for tracking and collection. The 2019 hate crime data is the most recent as 2020 figures will be released next year.
There were 68 hate crimes reported across South Carolina in 2019, down from the 111 cases reported in 2018.
North Myrtle Beach police reported two of the 68 cases in 2019, though spokesman Pat Dowling said technically there was only one hate crime incident. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division changed the classification of one case after it was reported to the FBI.
North Myrtle Beach’s hate crime involved a person reporting racial slurs written across their car’s windshield.
Myrtle Beach police reported one hate crime in 2019. The incident involved a white man saying he was attacked near Futrell Park and the attackers yelled racial epithets.
The one case for Myrtle Beach is out of the thousands of reports officers take each year and the department was pleased with the low total.
“One is too many, but yes we are pleased that confirmed hate or bias motivated incidents are rare,” Myrtle Beach police Master Cpl. Thomas Vest said. “Again, it is important to report any incident involving hate or bias to the department.”
The department does not have a detective who is specifically assigned to investigate hate crimes, Vest said. He said any report of hate or bias is taken seriously and investigators are assigned based on the circumstances of the case.
Hate crimes in Myrtle Beach are defined as “any unlawful action designed to frighten, harm, injure, intimidate or harass an individual, in whole or in part, because of a bias motivation against the actual or perceived race, religion, ethnic background or sexual orientation of the victim,” Vest said. The department also has a policy that details how hate crimes are investigated and classified.
Preliminary data does not show a hate crime reported to Myrtle Beach police in 2020, Vest said.
Hate Crime legislation
South Carolina is one of the few states that does not have hate crime legislation, but officials are hoping that changes in 2021.
A hate-crime bill moved throughout one committee in 2020, before being stalled like many other bills because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston. Gilliard introduced hate crime legislation during several past sessions.
Gilliard said there are several reasons he continues to push the hate crime bill. He served on Charleston City Council they passed hate crime legislation. His district includes Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where nine people were shot in killed in a 2015 hate crime. He also noted that South Carolina has a history of hate motivated violence.
When he first introduced the bill in the state legislature years ago, five states lacked hate crime bills. That count is now down to three states.
“We should have been the first one out of the gate,” Gilliard said.
There is hope the state will pass the bill in 2020, Gilliard said. The legislature created a justice reform committee and part of its task was to find common language in the hate crime bill that could be approved by the legislature.
The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce also called for the state legislature to pass hate crime legislation in 2020.
Jimmy Richardson, Solicitor for the judicial district covering Horry County, said prosecutors can’t currently detail a hate crime motivation to a jury. Judges often rule that the motivation is too prejudicial to a defendant, Richardson said. But, juries want to know the motive.
“We want people to know about the why,” Richardson said.
Horry County sees very few hate crimes in a given year, Richardson said. He added that most of the area’s crimes are based on opportunity.
If there is hate crime legislation, Richardson said he would like the punishment to be treated similar to gun enhancements. There are some gun charges where the sentence is added to the end of the sentence for the underlying count.
For example, if a person is sentenced to 30 years for murder, they could get an additional five years for a gun charge. The two sentences can not run at the same time. Richardson said he would like to see the hate crime law act in the same way.
