Freshly back from celebrating President Trump’s inauguration at the Maralago Club, Beaufort County resident Skip Hoagland has been arrested for “trespassing” as he attempted to join a friend at a meeting of the Beaufort County Republican Party (BCRP).
An outspoken advocate for constitutional liberties, Hoagland has historically attracted drama; however, the videos may suggest a low country setup on this occasion.
A deputy in an unmarked SUV parked two spaces away from Hoagland’s vehicle where he would wait until Hoagland walked into the Bluffton eatery. As shown in the video, Hoagland attempted to sign into the meeting, explaining that he was the guest of a member, but BCRP Officer Kevin Hennelly immediately motioned for the local police officers positioned nearby to take him away. Within seconds, the officers had detained Hoagland in compliance with Hennelly’s request to arrest the senior adult.
VIDEO: Hoagland Watches as Sheriff Follows the Orders of BCRP
Attorney General Alan Wilson was walking through the doorway of the Downtown Deli as Hoagland called out “Alan,” perhaps hoping to receive some special consideration from the state’s top prosecutor. And although Wilson often claims that Pam Bondi is his ‘work wife,’ he was accompanied at the BCRP meeting by a deputy of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Matt Gates (below). Wilson pretended to not hear the octogenarian being manhandled as Hoagland called out directly in front of him.
VIDEO: Sheriff Ensures an (illegal?) Arrest of Hoagland
Sheriff PJ Tanner appeared eager to flex for ‘the General,’ appearing in the doorway to follow deputies outside and instruct others, “Don’t get involved!” after stating to Hoagland, “this is how the law works, Skip.”
But is it really?
BCRP’s website specifically noted that “all are welcome to attend” the meeting in question; Hoagland, who wears hearing aids, seemed genuinely confused about why he was being arrested.
Was there a court order in place?
It does NOT appear there was any sort of a “no trespass” order, signage, nor an order of protection in place for Hoagland. In yet another ‘flex,’ the member of BCRP who had invited Hoagland reported that Hennelly told her she had “five seconds to leave or they would do this this whole thing [arrest] over again.” That member, Lynn Greeley, reported that she left after receiving the threat from Hennelly.
The BCRP meeting rules do not appear to specifically address the attendance by guests - the very issue that Hoagland was desperately seeking to clarify. Further muddying the waters could be that the rules appear to be quite vague, if not lacking altogether.
In a brief conversation with Hoagland’s attorney, Taylor Smith, Esq., he advised that they are currently researching how and if Hoagland violated any rules of the BCRP pertaining to meeting attendance. Perhaps relevant also could be whether or not Hoagland believed, as he claimed, that he had good cause to be at the location as the guest of a member.
A Sheriff Prone to Being Puppeted?
Also in attendance at the BCRP meeting was local State Representative Bill Herbkersman who has, rather cavalierly, asserted to Hoagland - in writing - that he can leverage BCSO as his own personal security/enforcement detail. In the exchange below, Representative Herbkersman, a veteran S.C. lawmaker, claims to believe that name calling inside of a group text is a criminal act (in Beaufort County).
As a punitive action, imprisonment is generally considered to be a last resort since being jailed can be psychologically, socially and/or physically harmful, even deadly at times. It was only mere hours after convicted murderer Freddie Owens was found guilty in a S.C. courtroom that he confessed to the horrific and brutal murder of a fellow inmate, a 28-year-old man who - like Hoagland - was being held in the detention center for non-violent crimes.
So a non-violent senior citizen was arrested tonight and jailed,
while joining a friend for a meeting,
at a public restaurant,
to hear a publicly elected official,
with his hearing aids,
dressed in his Maralago swag,
in front of the Republican political ‘elite’ who claim to be advocates for free speech,
while the sheriff is failing miserably to curb violent crime.
Cannot make this stuff up.
This is rampant at the moment. The FBI has plenty on these guns for hire. Yet they continue to let it happen. Are there any real law men left?
The GOP in Georgia are behaving strangely as of late. A state Senator Colton Moore was physically attacked by a lawyer goon but it was Moore who was arrested by police. I'm no longer a GOP member but a member of The Constitution Party of Georgia. When Republicans behave like elitists Democrats it time for serious action by voters.