There
was widespread condemnation when Hope Carpenter returned on March 31 to
the Greenville church that she and her husband Ron founded in 1991 and
expressed her support for the church’s new leaders, John and Aventer
Gray.
“I
love you Pastor John and Pastor Aventer,” she said at Relentless
Church’s 8:30 a.m. service. “I believe in you, I’m praying for you, I’m
rooting for you.” Then, she added, “I cut people. I’ve got a knife right
in that pocket book. Greenville News, come on. We done went through
this. Alright. I’m still here and guess who else still gon’ be here?”
Then she pointed to John and Aventer Gray, as John nodded. (Excerpted
video of Carpenter’s excerpted comments are available at https://youtu.be/Wjub1kKs9oM; the entire service is at https://youtu.be/eYYzz77ztH4, with her full comments starting at the 9:30 mark.)
The
Greenville News has published a number of stories about the church and
its leaders over the years, including reports that John Gray purchased a $200,000 Lamborghini for Aventer, his television admission of having an "emotional affair," and that the church purchased a $1.8 million home for the Grays.
The Grays later said through a spokeswoman that he did not expect
Carpenter’s “I cut people” comment and apparent threat to The
Greenville News. “While we believe Pastor Hope was joking, we completely
understand how her comments could be received in today's climate,”
spokeswoman Holly Baird said in a written statement to the newspaper.
“Neither our pastors or anyone in our leadership would agree with any
type of communication that would encourage or incite violence against
another individual or entity.”
Carpenter’s comment comes at a time when the media is under both rhetorical and literal attack.
The
oratory, of course, has come mainly from the president and his
administration. His attacks on the media, calling them “the enemy of the
people,” and on what he deems “fake news” are a frequent feature of his
speeches, and his tweets. And they have been mimicked by other
government officials and by some of the presidents’ supporters, as well as leaders in other countries that do not have the legal protections for media that we have in the U.S.
In some instances, this has gone beyond rhetoric. Of course, the most severe of these was the murder of five workers at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland in June 2018. (Although, as I’ve noted,
the shooter had his own personal grievances against the newspaper.) The
Annapolis shooting made the United States tied with India as the fifth most deadly nation for journalists in 2018, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Yet,
even in this atmosphere, there have been no serious efforts to change
the legal protections for journalism under the First Amendment, and the courts have continued to uphold them.
But
the threats and violence have set a tone, and the climate in which
Carpenter made her statement. It is possible that she did not literally
mean to threaten The Greenville News and its staff. But in this era when
rhetoric and violence against the media is all too real, even idle
threats must be taken seriously, and condemned in the strongest words
possible. That’s what freedom of speech and the First Amendment is all
about.
Eric
P. Robinson is an assistant professor at the USC School of Journalism
and Mass Communication, and is Of Counsel to Fenno Law in Charleston /
Mount Pleasant, although any opinions are his own. He has worked in
media law for more than 18 years, and is admitted to legal practice in
New York and New Jersey and before the U.S. Supreme Court. This column
is for educational purposes only; it does not constitute legal advice.
