Group says it didn’t put ‘caustic’ substance in ‘suspicious bottles’ at SC protest

If a caustic substance was placed in a water bottle discovered by Columbia police following a May 30 protest, it wasn’t placed there by the group “I Can’t Breathe South Carolina,” organizers said.

The group — named after words George Floyd said as Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck May 25 — said it was handing out water bottles that looked like ones described by police — milky white with duct tape on the outside. But the group’s bottles contained nothing more than water and baking soda, it said. This mixture is thought to lessen the effects of tear gas, the group said in a statement.

The idea of baking soda and water came from Hong Kong protesters, who would fill a spray bottle full of water and baking soda, and spray the mixture into the mouths and faces of those who were exposed to tear gas, according to an article in Popular Science.

In Columbia, the water bottles were found on Saturday, May 30, outside the Columbia Police Department headquarters, police said in a press release issued Sunday. On May 30, three Columbia Police Department officers suffered from “burns, blisters, irritation and redness on their hands and arms consistent with injuries from a caustic or corrosive substance,” police said in the statement.

Some of the bottles’ contents were tested and showed “a small trace of a substance that can be caustic to the skin,” according to the release.

The word “small” was underlined in the press release and the release did not elaborate on what substance the test allegedly found nor how many bottles were tested.

“If further research was done they would see residue of baking soda,” said Rye Martinez, one of the leaders of I Can’t Breathe South Carolina.

Asked to respond to the protesters’ assertions that the contents of the group’s bottles were just water and baking soda, Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said in an email, “As yesterday’s news release includes, the FBI is testing the contents of the bottles” police found.

Police have said members of another group — the Boogaloos — were also at the protest on May 30 and one of its members was seen throwing a water bottle at law enforcement. It is a national anti-government movement that targets liberal politicians and law enforcement, NBC News has reported. The Washington Post reported that its members are considered “far-right extremists,” bent on spreading a violent, anti-government agenda.

Authorities say they have charged two members of the Boogaloos, incuding a former Richland County EMS worker, with inciting a riot and aggravated breach of peace.

Martinez said it’s “always possible” that someone altered or added something to the water bottles her groups prepared, but she is confident that if someone did that it was not a member of I Can’t Breathe SC.

“We have been encouraging peace from the beginning,” Martinez said.

The police statement makes clear any possible link between the bottles — the contents are being tested in a lab — and the officers’ injuries is still under investigation. However, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who were quoted in the press release, seem more certain of a link between the bottles and the officers’ injuries.

“This is just another example of the dangers law enforcement officers face from agitators who are not interested in peace,” Lott said. “It’s inconceivable that anyone would think to harm officers in such a way, considering the dangers it poses to peaceful protesters as well. Bottles filled with corrosive materials are not instruments of protest. They are instruments that are designed to seriously injure those that serve to protect the right of people to protest. Unfortunately those that chose to peacefully protest rarely see this side of what we face.”

Holbrook said the discovery may distort the overall meaning of the protest.

“This may suggest evidence of not a spontaneous or peaceful protest but an orchestrated and planned attack against law enforcement. Those who choose violence over peace will continue to be held accountable for their criminal actions.”

I Can’t Breathe SC rebuked law enforcement in its own public statement.

“Yet again, Columbia PD seeks to incite fear into our community as we continue to stand up and demand justice,” said the protest group in a Facebook post. “We will not be bullied or intimidated.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 5:49 PM with the headline "Group says it didn’t put ‘caustic’ substance in ‘suspicious bottles’ at SC protest."