Brittany Martin, the South Carolina activist who was arrested at a protest following the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, has been released after serving years in prison.
The S.C. Department of Corrections released Ms. Martin on November 27, just in time to spend Thanksgiving with her husband and children.
“It feels so good to be with my family and connecting with my children again. I’m so grateful for my husband and how strong he stood, and my other children and how strong they’ve stood through this whole ordeal. I’m so grateful for the ACLU,” said Brittany Martin. “I’m still demanding justice. Justice is everything for me right now.”
The ACLU of South Carolina has represented Ms. Martin since April 2023, arguing that her conviction violated her right to free speech and that a 4-year sentence for non-violent conduct is an outrage. We are continuing to ask the South Carolina Supreme Court to hear Ms. Martin’s appeal and reverse her conviction.
“Continuing to challenge Ms. Martin’s conviction and sentence is critical not only to clear Ms. Martin’s name and record, but also to uphold the principles of the First Amendment that protect all South Carolinians,” said Meredith McPhail, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of South Carolina.
In May 2020 following the brutal police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Ms. Martin took to the streets of Sumter in protest. She joined millions of people worldwide protesting police violence and demanding accountability for the killing of yet another Black man by U.S. law enforcement.
After five days of protesting without incident, Brittany Martin was arrested, prosecuted, and later convicted for the common law crime of Breach of Peace of a High and Aggravated Nature (BOPHAN). Her trial sparked national outrage when a judge sentenced Ms. Martin, who was pregnant at the time, to four years in prison. She gave birth to a daughter, Blessing, while incarcerated.
“When George Floyd and Breonna Taylor got killed, that really did something to my spirit like most of the country,” Ms. Martin said in a previous update from prison in fall 2023. “Being a mother of five Black men, I had to say something.”
For more about this case, see The State v. Brittany Martin.
