Free Republic

A federal judge has denied a restraining order on Thursday that would have blocked vaccine mandates for up to 125 city employees in South Carolina. Tom Fernandez and his firm Fernandez Law represented the plaintiffs, 100 of whom are first responders who filed a lawsuit against the cities of Charleston and North Charleston, Charleston County, and the St. Johns Fire District over the mandates. “They felt that it was nothing short of government coercion to get the vaccine,” Fernandez told The Epoch Times. “We filed a lawsuit in state court alleging their constitutional protections. They did not want the vaccine....

Jacop Hazlett is facing multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor. (Source: Live 5 News) DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - A man has been sentenced to 75 years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting children at a North Charleston church where he worked as a volunteer. A jury found Jacop Hazlett guilty of six charges in the case. He was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Hazlett has been accused of...

The Washington Post reports that a Bernie Sanders rally held in the gym of a black church in North Charleston, South Carolina drew more than 1,600 people. Fewer than 40 were black. Sanders has a problem with black voters, especially in the South. As one South Carolina Democratic leader, a Sanders supporter, said: It’s not just that he’s a Yankee. It’s not just that he’s old and that he sounds like a professor. It’s all of those things. It’s more. Sanders is uncomfortable with identity politics. He preaches socialism. I’ve seen no evidence that socialism holds any special attraction for...

A South Carolina megachurch pastor has chosen to press through the awkwardness and talk about what an increasing number of churches have been addressing from the pulpit – sex. Pastor Perry Noble of NewSpring Church made it clear to his congregation that when it comes to sex, the church has a lot to learn. "Let's just be honest. Sexual immorality is in the house," he told his congregation, adding that he has seen sexual immorality at each of the three churches he has served. "We can't get mad at people that aren't Christians because they act like they're not Christians....

FULL TITLE: Megachurch daycare volunteer caught on video molesting a three-year-old boy 'sexually assaulted at least THIRTEEN other children' A South Carolina church daycare volunteer charged with molesting a three-year-old boy is now being accused of sexually assaulting at least 13 other children. The bombshell allegations were laid bare in a lawsuit that was filed on Wednesday against 28-year-old Jacop Robert Lee Hazlett and the North Charleston NewSpring Church. Hazlett supervised the care of three- to five-year-olds at the megachurch. His arrest affidavit says a security camera recording showed him performing oral sex on the toddler in a bathroom on...

While the debate continues over whether stricter trade rules are needed to boost U.S. jobs, the head of the Mercedes-Benz Vans plant in North Charleston says his company is already helping to fulfill President Donald Trump's campaign promise to put more Americans to work. "I think having this facility here and the fact that we've made the decision to expand in North Charleston is something that is already very good in alignment with what your president wants — to have more things done locally and not in Mexico or some other region," said Michael Balke, president and CEO of the...

<p>NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two South Carolina teenagers are charged with murder in the shooting death of a good Samaritan who helped them pull an SUV out of a ditch.</p> <p>North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor tells local news outlets the victim stopped to help the teens pull the vehicle out of a ditch about 11 p.m. Monday and was robbed and shot after the vehicle was freed. The name of the victim, who died at the scene, was not immediately released.</p>

Police say the 16-year-old who got his tongue bitten off while sexually assaulting a woman during a home invasion is being charged as an adult. Antoine Miller has been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree assault, first-degree burglary, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and first-degree kidnapping, said a representative for the North Charleston Police Department.

(CNN)Both sides in the case of Walter Scott described what happened Monday as a single step in a long march. A grand jury indicted former North Charleston, South Carolina, police officer Michael Slager on a murder charge in connection to the April shooting death.

The International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Friday withdrew for at least six months their petition for an election scheduled for Wednesday to unionize Boeing Co.’s North Charleston plant. The union cited a “toxic environment and gross violation of workers’s lawful organizing rights.” If the union had pressed ahead with the controversial vote – being waged in a strongly anti-union state – and failed to win, organizers would have had to wait at least a year to schedule another try at passage. “An atmosphere of threats, harassment and unprecedented political interference has intimated workers to the point we don’t...

On the first day we saw the North Charleston, South Carolina, shooting video of Walter Scott by Officer Michael Slager we were as shocked as everyone. However, as research now indicates there is much more to the story. What we cover here in the latest update might just change the entire way the story continues…

...police release dash-cam video from cop Michael Slager’s cruiser Stay away, Rev. Al. That was the message from the family of South Carolina police shooting victim Walter Scott to the civil rights activist Thursday two days before the funeral for the slain father of four. “We don’t want another Ferguson type of circus here,” a source close to the Scott family told The Daily News. That was a reference to the Missouri town that was rocked by violent demonstrations last year after black teen Michael Brown was killed by a white cop. Sharpton gave a rousing speech at the 18-year-old’s...

Dashboard video shows a police officer making a routine traffic stop. Cellphone video shows the officer shooting the fleeing motorist in the back. What remains a mystery is what happened during the minutes in between that led the police officer to become a killer. The dash cam footage released by state police on Thursday showed North Charleston Officer Michael Thomas Slager pulling over black motorist Walter Scott for a broken brake light last weekend. Slager, who is white, has been charged with murder in Scott’s death. […] What’s missing is what happens from the time the two men run out...

Authorities in South Carolina have released dash cam video in connection with the fatal shooting of Walter Scott, but the footage does not show the actual shooting. Video from the patrol car of North Charleston's Michael Slager shows an initial traffic stop and early interactions between the officer and Scott. Slager approaches Scott's vehicle. The two men speak. Scott tells the officer he does not have insurance and is in the process of purchasing the vehicle. Slager then returns to his patrol car. Scott exits his vehicle, briefly, and Slager tells him to stay in the car. Scott then gets...

A white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina has been charged with murder after video emerged of him shooting an unarmed black man in the back while he was trying to run away, reports the Charleston Post and Courier. The two had been involved in a scuffle. The man, 50-year-old Walter Scott, died Saturday after Patrolman 1st Class Michael Slager, 33, shot at him eight times, though it is not immediately clear how many shots hit him. Scott had been stopped for a broken tail light, and he ran from police “because he owed child support,” said his family,...

Last Saturday, April 4th at about 9:30 a.m., 33-year-old North Charleston, S.C. police officer Michael Slager shot 50-year-old Walter Scott near the intersection of Remount and Craig Roads in North Charleston. Take a good look at this alarming video, then read why I say the officer will not be convicted of murder, but of a lesser included charge of voluntary manslaughter instead. Slager initially pulled Scott over for a broken taillight, but the incident escalated when Slager tried to take Scott into custody on an outstanding arrest warrant for non-payment of child support. Scott had some additional prior violent criminal...

<p>At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said the video was "awfully hard to watch."</p> <p>Earnest said he hadn't discussed the shooting with President Barack Obama but wouldn't be surprised if Obama had seen the video.</p> <p>Earnest also discussed the impact the video evidence appears to have had on the investigation.</p>

It seems as if there are no depths to which some men will sink when a woman refuses to abort their baby—and even if they do. ABC News 4 reported Monday that Officer Sierra Shivers, a member of the North Charleston, South Carolina police Department, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave while authorities investigate allegations of “criminal domestic violence” against a woman who was ten weeks pregnant. More specifically The victim told deputies she had been 10 weeks pregnant with Shivers’ baby and he’s been pushing her to have an abortion, threatening to have her loved ones arrested with...

State Sen. Robert Ford, one of the Lowcountry’s most established and colorful political figures, stepped down today as the Senate Ethics Committee was finishing up its review into his campaign spending. The Charleston Democrat began his political career as an outspoken black leader who butted heads with Mayor Joe Riley and others in Charleston’s political establishment but evolved into a leader who touted his close ties with influential Republican Senate colleagues. His resignation came as the Senate Ethics Committee began discussing the final four of eight allegations today. Its findings are expected to be posted online soon, Sen. John Courson...