BEAUFORT COUNTY SHERIFF P-J TANNER WILL UPDATE US AT 11 THIS MORNING ON THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE MASS SHOOTING OVER THE WEEKEND AT A ST HELENA BAR THAT KILLED FOUR, CRITICALLY INJURED FOUR OTHERS AND SENT ABOUT 20 PEOPLE TO THE HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT OF INJURIES. YOU CAN WATCH IT ON THE COUNTY CHANNEL ONLINE. NO ARRESTS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED YET. A NUMBER OF AREA GROUPS ARE NOW ANNOUNCING FUNDRAISERS FOR THE FAMILIES AFFECTED BY THE TRAGEDY. HER TABLE CATERING IS SERVING 20-DOLLAR PLATE LUNCHES AND BOWLS OF GUMBO THROUGH FRIDAY AT WILLIE’S BREAKFAST BAR ON M-L-K JUNIOR DRIVE IN ST. HELENA. G-G’S RESTAURANT AND BAR IN PORT ROYAL IS DONATING 10% OF ALL PROCEEDS THIS WEEK TO FAMILIES WHO LOST LOVED ONES.
YOU HAD TO KNOW THIS WAS COMING. A BLUFFTON LANDSCAPER BORN IN BEAUFORT, HAS TOLD W-J-C-L THAT HE’S GOING TO SUE THE PEOPLE WHO ROUGHED HIM UP DURING THE ICE RAID OF THE SOUTHERN MARSH NURSERY IN PRITCHARDVILLE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. HE’S REMAINING ANONYMOUS FOR FEAR OF FURTHER RETRIBUTION, BUT SAYS HE WAS ONE OF MORE THAN A DOZEN PEOPLE ORIGINALLY DETAINED, SOME OF WHOM WERE FORCED TO SIGN DEPORTATION PAPERS. HE OCCUSES OFFICIALS WIH ICE AND THE STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION OF ASSAULTING HIM DURING THE MELEE. FIVE FOREIGN NATIONALS WERE ARRESTED IN THE RAID AND THE LANDSCAPER SAYS THE BLUFFTON HISPANIC COMMUNITY IS NOW LIVING IN FEAR, ESPECIALLY WOMEN.
THE INTERNAL TURMOIL WE’VE BEEN HEARING ABOUT AT THE F-B-I HAS SPILLED OVER INTO SOUTH CAROLINA. STEVEN JENSEN, WHO WAS SOUTH CAROLINA’S F-B-I AGENT-IN-CHARGE FROM 2023 TO EARLIER THIS YEAR, HAS JOINED THE LAWSUIT OF TWO FORMER SENIOR AGENTS WHO WERE FIRED IN AUGUST. JENSEN ACCUSES THE F-B-I OF BEING RUN BY POLITICAL BOSSES WITH BLIND LOYALTY TO PRESIDENT TRUMP RATHER THAN THOSE WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERTISE. THE LAWSUIT ALLEGES THAT THE POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED FIRINGS HAVE ‘DEGRADED THE COUNTRY’S NATIONAL SECURITY BY FIRING THREE OF THE F-B-I’S MOST EXPERIENCED OPERATIONAL LEADERS WHO WERE EXPERTS IN PREVENTING TERRORISM AND REDUCING VIOLENT CRIME.’ JENSEN, BRIAN DRISCOLL AND SPENCER EVANS WERE ALL FIRED IN AUGUST IN A ONE-PAGE FORM LETTER DESPITE THEIR NEARLY 60-YEARS OF HIGH-LEVEL SERVICE BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO THE FORMER AGENTS, THEY WERE INVOLVED IN THE JANUARY 6TH INVESTIGATION. JENSEN TOOK A PROMOTION FROM SOUTH CAROLINA TO F-B-I HEADQUARTERS LAST MARCH BEFORE BEING FIRED IN AUGUST UNDER PRESSURE FROM PARDONED JANUARY 6TH PARTICIPANTS, EVEN AFTER RECEIVING GIFTS FROM F-B-I DIRECTOR KASH PATEL DURING HIS TIME IN THE F-B-I HEADQUARTERS.