Statement releasesd by Ashley Hunter – City of Cayce Spokeswoman – In Monday, at 8:11 p.m., a call was made to the Cayce Department of Public Safety. The complainant stated that two females with young children in strollers were vandalizing the Cayce Riverwalk with paint.

Click for link to body-cam video

Two females, matching the description of the suspects, including the strollers, were observed at 8:20 PM leaving the West Columbia Riverwalk Park and Amphitheater. One Cayce Department of Public Safety officer then attempted to speak to both of the females and observed paint on their clothing and their person.

Our Cayce officer was simply asking for identification; however, the demeanor of the women, contrary to the demeanor of our officer, escalated quickly.

Both females refused to cooperate when asked for identification and attempted to leave the area. Both were uncooperative and verbally aggressive towards officers including using threatening language saying that the officers “are going down.”

They made numerous false accusations including stating our officer put his knee on her neck. Which he did not.

In an apparent attempt to further raise tension between officers and the surrounding public, one of the young ladies made the following statements:

“We saw other black people spray painting the bridge.”

“I’m an activist, this is a revolution.”

“I’m naked!” (*while exposing herself to our officer.)

As they are trained, our officers worked to deescalate the situation.

All of these facts can be observed as they are seen in the dashcam and bodycam videos being released to the public, which represents our full interaction with the two suspects.

At the conclusion of this encounter and out of concern for the children present, our officers allowed the two females to leave. This investigation is currently ongoing.