The Greer megaphone arrest (June 2026)
On the evening of June 8, 2026, the night before South Carolina's Republican gubernatorial primary, a volunteer on Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette's campaign finance committee, Blake Kirsch, ran up to a man legally protesting outside an Evette campaign event in Greer, ripped a megaphone from his hands, and handed it to the police officers already on scene. Greer PD cited him for misdemeanor assault and battery in the third degree and booked him 'without incident.' On primary day, June 9, Rep. Nancy Mace turned the episode into an all-morning social-media offensive, calling it a 'physical assault' by Evette's 'employees' and demanding Evette 'drop out of the race.' Evette's campaign said Kirsch was an unpaid volunteer, not staff, and condemned the conduct; he resigned from the finance committee. Local stations led with 'volunteer' and 'megaphone snatched.' Mace finished last in the primary that day.
The night before South Carolina Republicans chose between five candidates for governor, a small confrontation outside a campaign stop in Greer became, for one of those candidates, the message of election day itself.
What happened in Greer
On the evening of Monday, June 8, 2026, Greer Police Department officers were working a campaign event for Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette at 300 Randall Street. According to the department's incident report (case 26000017457), they had already "made contact with the victim, who had been legally protesting the political event from a public location." A man then "ran up to" the protester "who was holding a megaphone and ripped the megaphone out of his hands," before running to the officers and handing them the megaphone. He was cited for assault and battery in the third degree, a misdemeanor, and "taken to the Greer City Jail without incident."
The man was Blake Kirsch, a volunteer on Evette's campaign finance committee. He was charged with one misdemeanor count; the charge is unproven and he is presumed innocent. He resigned from the finance committee after the incident.
Greer PD supplemental report, narrative page. The full document is available here; the victim's identifying information was redacted by the source.
Election day, on Mace's accounts
On primary day, June 9, Rep. Nancy Mace posted about the episode through the morning. Beginning at 8:41 a.m. on her War Room account and continuing on @NancyMace at 8:56, 9:04, and 9:12, she called it a "physical assault" by "one of Pamela Evette's employees," posted the arrest record and the bystander video, and demanded that Evette "fire the individual," "apologize to the young man," and "drop out of the race." In her own posts the man moved from a "finance committee" member to an "employee" to a "campaign member."
Nancy Mace (@NancyMace), 9:12 a.m. on election day: "A Pam Evette campaign member was ARRESTED last night for physically assaulting a Nancy Mace supporter. Violence has no place in South Carolina politics..."
Evette's response
Evette's campaign manager Megan Finnern said the team was "deeply disappointed that this occurred," that it does "not in any way condone violence," and that Kirsch "is not, and has never been, employed by the campaign." Evette said she does not "tolerate violence on any level." Greenville-Spartanburg stations led with the campaign's framing rather than Mace's: Fox Carolina and WIS both called Kirsch a "volunteer" and described a "megaphone snatched," not an "assault" by a "staffer."
The outcome
Mace finished fifth, in last place, in the June 9 primary, with roughly 12 percent of the vote. Evette finished first and advanced to a June 23 runoff against Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Blake Kirsch was charged with one misdemeanor count of assault and battery in the third degree; the charge 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. Nothing here is a finding of fact.
On this site
On the Record
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.