A South Carolina Democrat state lawmaker was arrested on Friday for presenting and pointing a handgun at a Democrat polling location on primary day.
On June 9, State Rep. Michael Rivers (D-St. Helena Island) retrieved a handgun from the glove compartment in his vehicle and pointed it at a relative of his opponent.
Michael Rivers engaged in a “brief verbal altercation” over the political campaign for his seat. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the felony pointing charge.
Rivers lost his primary to Shannon DeLocach.
An attorney for Rivers said his client is innocent.
“Representative Rivers is asserting his innocence to this accusation levied against him by a political opponent. Michael has served admirably in the State Legislature and he is a retired member United States military. He has been an upstanding citizen for nearly seven decades. We ask for the public to withhold judgment until the facts come to light and this matter is resolved in a Court of law,” the attorney, Seth Rose, said in a statement to WIS.
Rivers was released on a $15,000 bond.
The Post and Courier reported:
State Rep. Michael Rivers was formally charged with pointing and presenting a firearm after a June incident in which he allegedly brought out the weapon at a Democratic primary polling place.
Rivers, D-St. Helena Island, was booked into the Colleton County Detention Center Oct. 9 before being released on bond, according to court and jail records.
Rivers said he is innocent and that the accusation, which stems from an altercation at a Colleton County polling location during the June 9 primary, was from a political opponent.
He is alleged to have displayed a handgun at the Green Pond Community Center shortly before 2 p.m. on primary day. An incident report from the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office at the time didn’t provide any details on the alleged confrontation, according to The Post and Courier’s reporting at the time.
According to a State Law Enforcement Division affidavit attached to his arrest warrant, Rivers and another person, whose name is redacted, had a “brief verbal altercation” over the campaign for Rivers’ House District 121 seat.
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