The nationwide 50501 protest movement made its way to Columbia on Feb. 5, with demonstrators gathering at the Statehouse to protest Project 2025 and other Republican policies.
The movement spread online with the goal of organizing a protest in all of the 50 states on a single day. While there are social media pages and a website for the movement, there was no central organization running the events.
Blake Justice and Haley Weaver organized South Carolina’s protest, applying for the permit and starting a Facebook page for the event. The couple were motivated by their concerns about Project 2025, immigration policy and access to abortion, Justice said.
"As a woman, as a mother and as an American, what’s going on is extremely scary,” Weaver said. “I want to make sure that we stand up, and we make sure that we are taking control of our country.”
Demonstrators gathered in a circle around various speakers, including some USC students. Second-year public relations student Brooklyn Brown spoke on abortion access. Both Brown and her mother had abortions as young adults, she said in her speech.
“There are so many girls who go through this,” Brown said in her speech. “When I was sitting in that clinic, I felt alone. I felt like I was the only one who had ever experienced this in my whole life. And that is why I’m loud about it.”
Brown is also concerned about the rights and safety of marginalized people, she said. She is from Indiana, another state with a Republican controlled legislature. In the future, she would like to be in a blue state, but she would like to improve red states as well, she said.
“I don’t want to just flee in order to get away from it,” Brown said. “I don’t want to leave everyone behind here. I think that we should be making all of America better.”
Fourth-year economics and political science student Reilly Arford also spoke to the crowd. His speech focused on the effects of actions against diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the federal government, which has an effect on his mother, he said.
“She’s not able to teach the way that she wants to teach as a federally employed educator,” Arford said. “I can’t even post about it or talk about it for fear that she is gonna have repercussions on her and her job.”
According to Arford, advocates for change should use the power of money. He encouraged investing in small and diverse businesses.
Rep. Wendell Gilliard (D-Charleston) came to the podium to encourage the attendees.
“I have finally witnessed we the people, the power,” Gilliard said. “This is where the power lies: within you. Remember this: We work for you.”
After seeing posts about the 50501 Movement online, Weaver did not notice any information about an event for South Carolina. By Feb. 1, Weaver and Justice, who are engaged and have a son, began to discuss a potential protest together and decided to organize it themselves, she said.
They created a Facebook page for the protest and began inviting their friends. On the morning of Feb. 3, around 40 people had signed up, Justice said. On the day of the protest, 154 users had responded to the post, according to the page.
“This is beyond our wildest dreams,” Justice said during the event.
Neither Justice nor Weaver had organized such an event in the past, Weaver said. In addition to help from strangers, the Democratic Party of South Carolina provided a podium, sound system and help with printing flyers, Weaver said.
“It was very intimidating,” Weaver said. “But thankfully, we had so many people come forward to help us.”
Lucy Mahon got in touch with the event’s organizers on Facebook and tried to help find someone to speak at the rally. In the end, Mahon, who had previously run for office, became that speaker, she said.
Mahon lives with her wife in Sumter and is worried that her marriage could be “on the chopping block soon,” she said.
Weaver and Justice may organize more rallies in the future, Justice said.
"We are not going to be less involved," he said.