McMaster sends SC National Guard troops to Washington, but what about SC?
By Paul Hyde
Gov. Henry McMaster has deployed 200 S.C. National Guard troops to Washington D.C. to “restore law and order” even though South Carolina itself has one of the highest murder rates in the nation.
McMaster and state leaders should deal seriously with South Carolina’s own longstanding violent crime issues before they try to solve Washington’s problems.
And there’s no need to deploy the S.C. National Guard. Just deploy common sense.
The S.C. Guard’s mission in Washington is a bad idea. National Guard units are not trained to police American streets.
The state-based Guard has two main duties: responding to natural disasters and mobilizing, when needed, in time of war, according to the guard’s website.
The guard assists local and state authorities in disasters such as hurricanes, floods and wildfires. The guard also plays a role in search and rescue operations, and in riot control. And it can be called up if the country is at war.
It’s certainly true that the guard has been used for other purposes — such as the 250 South Carolina guard troops currently at the southern border — but the question remains whether guard troops are qualified to be street police. Using them as police risks blurring the line between military and civilian authority.
Most Americans, like the Founding Fathers, are wary of a militaristic intervention on U.S. soil in peacetime. Local Washington D.C. officials, of course, did not request military support and appear to have been completely ignored. This undermines democratic governance and home rule in a city that already lacks full statehood representation.
Local officials and residents argue that the troops are a response to a manufactured crisis, with some residents reporting that they feel unsafe.
South Carolina Democrats are right also that the state shouldn’t send out our National Guard troops when they might be needed here during hurricane season.
At best, sending the S.C. Guard to Washington is a waste of resources; at worst, it poses a danger to residents of the district and our own guard troops.
South Carolina should butt out of this misguided crusade in Washington.
We’ve got plenty of crime problems right here at home, including the seventh-highest murder rate in the nation (tied with Arkansas), with 11.3 homicides per 100,000 people. In overall violent crime, South Carolina ranked ninth in 2023 when including Washington, D.C., in both rankings.
The first duty
The homicide rate has fallen nationwide and in South Carolina over the past few years — a hopeful trend.
But it remains near-historic highs.
McMaster said he deployed the troops to Washington to “restore law and order” and “ensure safety for all who live, work, and visit there,” according to reporting by S.C. Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox.
Those are fine sentiments from McMaster, but a governor’s first duty is to protect the citizens of his own state.
In recent years, at least four South Carolina counties — Dillon, Lee, Allendale and Hampton counties — exceeded Washington’s 2024 murder rate, according to the state Department of Public Health.
These counties and all of South Carolina’s counties don’t need militaristic intervention but rather sustained support and partnership.
It begins with listening to South Carolina law enforcement. Advocates have expressed alarm over “historic staffing shortages” in South Carolina law enforcement. Helping police departments and sheriff’s office reach a full-staffing level would be a vital step in reducing violent crime.
Instead of cutting taxes every year, McMaster and state lawmakers should invest in more funding not only for local law enforcement but also for mental health and substance abuse programs.
State leaders also need to focus on South Carolina’s notorious gun violence problem.
Firearms account for more than 80% of homicides in South Carolina.
A lot can be done to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. One study based on 25 years of evidence found that states with universal background checks had homicide rates 15% lower than states without them.
South Carolina also needs safe storage laws and meaningful red flag laws.
Red flag laws, also known as extreme risk protection order laws, allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others. Attempts to introduce red flag laws in South Carolina have so far failed.
State lawmakers also should finally close the so-called “Charleston loophole” that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase a gun that he used to murder nine worshipers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015.
A comprehensive 2019 study from Boston University found that “universal background checks, permit requirements, ‘may issue’ laws (where local authorities have discretion in approving who can carry a concealed weapon), and laws banning people convicted of violent misdemeanors from possessing firearms are, individually and collectively, significantly able to reduce gun-related deaths.”
Sending National Guard troops to Washington makes for eye-catching political theater but reducing South Carolina’s high violent crime rate requires something far more challenging: a serious and sustained commitment by principled state leaders to proven anti-crime solutions.
Paul Hyde is a longtime journalist and teacher in the Upstate. He worked 18 years for the Greenville News as a columnist, editorial writer, education reporter and arts writer. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clemson and Harvard universities. He has written for the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News and USA Today, among other publications. He currently is a regular contributor to the Greenville Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Classical Voice North America.
