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Part of: The Greer megaphone arrest (June 2026) · 2026 Governor Campaign

Dispatch

On primary morning, Mace recast a volunteer's megaphone grab as a 'physical assault' by Pamela Evette's 'employees'

On June 9, 2026, the day South Carolina Republicans voted in their gubernatorial primary, Rep. Nancy Mace spent the morning posting about something that had happened the night before outside a rival's campaign stop in Greer. Across three accounts, before 9:15 a.m., she called it a 'physical assault' by 'one of Pamela Evette's employees,' a 'violent' act, and grounds for Evette to 'drop out of the race.' The Greer Police Department incident report describes the same event more narrowly: a man 'ran up to' a protester 'who was holding a megaphone and ripped the megaphone out of his hands,' then handed it to the officers already standing there. The charge was misdemeanor assault and battery in the third degree, citation issued on scene. Evette's campaign said the man, Blake Kirsch, was an unpaid volunteer on its finance committee, not a staffer, and condemned the conduct. Local stations led with 'volunteer' and 'megaphone snatched.' Mace finished last in the primary that day.

Rep. Nancy Mace
Photo: The Daily Beast. Source

On June 9, 2026, the day South Carolina Republicans voted in their gubernatorial primary, Rep. Nancy Mace opened the morning with a sustained run of posts about something that had happened the night before, outside a campaign stop for her chief rival, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. By 9:15 a.m., across three accounts, she had called it a "physical assault," a "violent" act by "one of Pamela Evette's employees," and grounds for Evette to "drop out of the race."

The Greer Police Department incident report describes the same event in narrower terms. An officer "responded to 300 Randall St in reference to an assault incident." Officers were "already on scene at the time of the incident for a related political event," and had "made contact with the victim, who had been legally protesting the political event from a public location." Then, the report says, a man "ran up to" the protester "who was holding a megaphone and ripped the megaphone out of his hands," after which he "ran up to myself and other officers and handed us the megaphone." The charge was assault and battery in the third degree, a misdemeanor. He "was issued his citation on scene and then taken to the Greer City Jail without incident."

Quote card: 'One of Pamela Evette's employees physically assaulted a supporter of mine last night.' Nancy Mace on X, June 9, 2026 Nancy Mace (@NancyMace), 8:56 a.m. on primary election day, June 9, 2026.

What the police report says

The man arrested was Blake Kirsch, whom Mace's campaign and Mace herself variously described as Evette's "employee," "staffer," and "campaign member." Evette's campaign said he was an unpaid volunteer on its finance committee, not a member of its staff. He was charged with one misdemeanor count and released; the matter, like any pending charge, is unproven, and he is presumed innocent. He resigned from the finance committee after the incident.

The Greer Police Department's two-page incident and supplemental report, case number 26000017457, lays out the sequence the officers on scene recorded. It is reproduced below as published, with the victim's identifying information redacted; the full document is available here.

Page 2 of the Greer Police Department supplemental report: the narrative describing how Blake Kirsch ran up to a protester holding a megaphone and ripped it from his hands, then handed it to officers, and was charged with assault and battery third degree Greer PD supplemental report, narrative page: the protester was "legally protesting the political event from a public location"; Kirsch "ripped the megaphone out of his hands" and "handed us the megaphone." Charge: A&B 3rd degree. (Victim data redacted by the source.)

Page 3 of the Greer Police Department supplemental report: 'Upon review of video footage taken by a bystander, Kirsch was taken into custody for assault and battery 3rd degree. Kirsch was issued his citation on scene and then taken to the Greer City Jail without incident.' The report's conclusion: "Kirsch was issued his citation on scene and then taken to the Greer City Jail without incident." The charge is a misdemeanor; no injury is described in the narrative.

How Mace spent primary morning

The incident happened on the evening of Monday, June 8. The voting happened on Tuesday, June 9. Mace's posts about it began that Tuesday morning and ran through the hours South Carolinians were casting ballots.

8:41 a.m., the Mace War Room account. The first post of the cluster came from @MaceWarRoom, with a 37-second bystander video attached:

Mace War Room (@MaceWarRoom), 8:41 a.m., June 9, 2026: "Last night a member of Pamela Evette's finance committee attacked a @NancyMace supporter outside an event. This type of behavior is DISGUSTING. Pam must immediately denounce VIOLENCE from her team. This is unbecoming for a Lt. Governor and someone who wants to be our next..."

8:56 a.m., @NancyMace. Fifteen minutes later, on her own account, the label shifted from "finance committee" member to "employees":

Screenshot of Nancy Mace's X post: 'One of Pamela Evette's employees physically assaulted a supporter of mine last night. The violent offender was arrested. This is not the appropriate behavior of a sitting Lt. Governor or anyone wishing to become Governor. Pam needs to disavow this right now, fire the individual' Nancy Mace (@NancyMace), 8:56 a.m., June 9, 2026: "One of Pamela Evette's employees physically assaulted a supporter of mine last night. The violent offender was arrested... Pam needs to disavow this right now, fire the individual."

9:04 a.m., @NancyMace. She followed up by posting a screenshot of the Greenville County arrest record:

Nancy Mace (@NancyMace), 9:04 a.m., June 9, 2026: the booking record for the arrest, posted as a reply in her own thread.

9:12 a.m., @NancyMace. A third post, again with the bystander video, escalated the demand: now Evette should not only fire him but "apologize to the young man," and the label changed once more, to "campaign member":

Nancy Mace (@NancyMace), 9:12 a.m., June 9, 2026: "A Pam Evette campaign member was ARRESTED last night for physically assaulting a Nancy Mace supporter. Violence has no place in South Carolina politics. Pam must immediately disavow the violent behavior by her campaign, fire the individual, and apologize to the young man who..."

Quote card: 'Violence has no place in South Carolina politics.' Nancy Mace, June 9, 2026 Nancy Mace (@NancyMace), June 9, 2026.

By late morning she had taken the message off the timeline and into interviews. In remarks reported by the Washington Examiner (David Zimmermann), published at 11:44 a.m. on election day, Mace said Evette "quite frankly, should drop out of the race," called the episode "completely disqualifying for a sitting Lt. Governor," and said Evette's campaign was a disgrace "to women everywhere" and to South Carolina. She repeated the call for Evette to "immediately and unequivocally denounce the violence, fire the staffer, and apologize to the victim," and gave on-camera comments that local stations aired the same day:

WSPA 7NEWS (Spartanburg): "Nancy Mace responds to Evette campaign volunteer's arrest," June 9, 2026.

Quote card: 'She, quite frankly, should drop out of the race.' Nancy Mace, June 9, 2026 Nancy Mace, in remarks on primary election day, as reported by the Washington Examiner, June 9, 2026.

"Employees," "campaign member," "finance committee": the shifting label

Across the morning, in her own words, the man's connection to Evette moved with the post. The War Room account called him "a member of Pamela Evette's finance committee." Minutes later Mace called him one of "Pamela Evette's employees." By the third post he was "a Pam Evette campaign member." She also called him a "staffer" in her interview remarks. The local outlets that covered the arrest, working from the police report and the campaign, did not adopt that framing.

Quote card: 'Pam must immediately disavow the violent behavior by her campaign, fire the individual, and apologize to the young man.' Nancy Mace, June 9, 2026 Nancy Mace (@NancyMace), June 9, 2026.

Evette's response

Evette's campaign rejected the "staffer" framing and condemned the conduct. Campaign manager Megan Finnern said in a statement reported by multiple outlets:

"Our team is deeply disappointed that this occurred. We support free speech and do not in any way condone violence. He is not, and has never been, employed by the campaign."

Evette herself, asked about it, said she does not "tolerate violence on any level" and reiterated that the man "was not employed by the campaign." The campaign confirmed he had been a volunteer on its finance committee and said he resigned from that committee after the incident.

The reporting that first surfaced the arrest came from FITSNews, which described Kirsch as a "finance committeeman" and posted the bystander footage:

FITSNews (@fitsnews), June 9, 2026, with the bystander video and the campaign's finance-committee roster.

How local reporting framed it

The contrast between Mace's language and the coverage was visible in the headlines. The Greenville-Spartanburg stations that own the local ground led with "volunteer" and "megaphone," not "staffer" and "assault":

  • Fox Carolina: "Volunteer arrested after megaphone snatched at Evette campaign event in Greer."
  • WIS TV: "Evette campaign volunteer arrested for assault at event in Greer."
  • WSPA 7NEWS: "Mace, Evette comment on assault outside campaign event in Greer."

National and aggregator coverage tended to carry Mace's framing in the headline, with the volunteer-not-staffer dispute inside: WCNC ("staffer arrested for allegedly assaulting supporter") and Raw Story, which described the bystander clip as a 37-second video that ends before showing what happened next.

What it was, and what came next

What the record shows is a misdemeanor: a volunteer ran up to a man legally protesting on a public sidewalk, pulled a megaphone out of his hands, and handed it to the police officers already standing a few feet away, then was cited and booked "without incident." What Mace built from it, over the hours her own primary was being decided, was a campaign-ending demand: that her opponent fire a "violent" "employee," "apologize to the victim," and "drop out of the race."

The voters answered the same day. Mace finished fifth, in last place, in the five-way Republican primary, with roughly 12 percent of the vote. Evette finished first and advanced, with Attorney General Alan Wilson, to a June 23 runoff. See The 2026 governor campaign and the incident hub, The Greer megaphone arrest.

Blake Kirsch was charged with one misdemeanor count of assault and battery in the third degree; the charge is an allegation, has not been proven, and he is presumed innocent. The protester was not publicly identified and is not named here. Pamela Evette's campaign denies that Kirsch was a staffer or employee and condemned the conduct. Nothing here is a finding of fact.

Sources & related coverage

On primary morning, Mace recast a volunteer's megaphone grab as a 'physical assault' by Pamela Evette's 'employees': image 1
On primary morning, Mace recast a volunteer's megaphone grab as a 'physical assault' by Pamela Evette's 'employees': image 2
On primary morning, Mace recast a volunteer's megaphone grab as a 'physical assault' by Pamela Evette's 'employees': image 3
On primary morning, Mace recast a volunteer's megaphone grab as a 'physical assault' by Pamela Evette's 'employees': image 4
On primary morning, Mace recast a volunteer's megaphone grab as a 'physical assault' by Pamela Evette's 'employees': image 5