COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lawerence Nathaniel is the lead organizer for the 'I can’t breathe' marches which took place in Columbia Saturday and continued through Monday afternoon.
The goal, said the organizer, was to protest police brutality in light of the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.
But what began peacefully Saturday, turned violent when protesters made their way from the State House to the Columbia Police headquarters.
Nathaniel says the violence was never supposed to happen.
"Do I support the riots? No, I don’t support the riots. Can I tell people how to protest? No, I can’t tell people how to protest," said Nathaniel, "Agitators came to the actual protest, our people that was there and told the police that they were there and were agitating and the police didn’t do anything about it what happened was and it was my failure on my part because it was a security issue."
And future protests, Nathaniel has this message, "We are asking for our space and our voice, there is a reason these people are out here so give them time to speak."