A viral video showing multiple Berkeley County deputies holding 18-year-old Justin Bryant face down during a fight at the Coastal Carolina Fair has sparked a dispute between his account of the encounter and what an official incident report describes. Bryant says he was never involved in the original altercation and was only trying to calm his younger brother when deputies turned their attention to him. The report tells a different story, one in which Bryant ignored repeated commands and kept fighting deputies as they tried to detain him.
According to Live 5 News, the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office incident report states that deputies gave Bryant multiple commands to stop, but he continued fighting with deputies and resisting their attempts to detain him. The report goes on to say Bryant kept resisting even after being taken to the ground, repeatedly trying to get back up, and that a deputy placed a knee across his shoulder blades to keep him down. Bryant disputes that characterization, saying he had stopped resisting from the moment he hit the ground until the encounter ended.
Bryant told the outlet he went to check on his brother after a younger relative said the boy had been in a fight, and that by the time he arrived the altercation was already over. He said his brother approached him in handcuffs and he was trying to calm him down when deputies shifted their focus onto him instead. Bryant alleged that about four or five deputies grabbed him and forced him to the ground, and that officers applied pressure to his head and neck, hit him with a flashlight, and punched the back of his head — including, he says, after he was already handcuffed.
A Mother's Search for Answers
Bryant said the encounter left him with a severe headache and pain in his neck and upper body. He also claimed deputies initially accused him of assaulting an officer before later telling him he would be released with tickets. Live 5 News reports it has not independently confirmed whether Bryant received any citations or what offenses they may have involved.
Bryant's mother, Jaleesa Ellison, said she was in the fair's children's area with younger family members when she got a call about the disturbance. She said deputies repeatedly stopped her from approaching her children once she rushed toward the scene, and that she spent nearly two hours at the location trying to get answers. Ellison said she ultimately found four family members in handcuffs, including Bryant, her daughter, and two other relatives, and alleged that deputies handled her children roughly while they were restrained and refused to explain why they had been detained.
For complaints involving Berkeley County personnel, the Sheriff’s Office says serious allegations are referred to its Office of Professional Standards/Internal Affairs, while less serious complaints go to a supervisor. The agency says complaints are to be investigated promptly and thoroughly, and complainants are to be told the outcome. Its published process provides a route for raising concerns about deputies’ conduct, but does not establish whether a complaint has been filed over the fair encounter.
What the Sheriff's Office Says Happened
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office confirmed deputies responded to a large fight at the fair on the evening of November 8, with Berkeley County deputies assisting in the response. The agency said deputies moved in to break up the disturbance and restore order, and that a lieutenant was struck in the face during the incident. The lieutenant was back at work Monday afternoon, according to the sheriff's office.
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office also said one person was arrested in connection with the incident and charged with third-degree assault and battery. Bryant says he was not that individual and was released without being arrested. The agency's statement, as described by the outlet's report, does not specifically address Bryant's allegations that deputies struck him while he was handcuffed.
The third-degree assault-and-battery charge announced in the case is a misdemeanor under South Carolina law. The statute defines it as unlawfully injuring someone, or offering or attempting injury with the present ability to do so, and sets a maximum penalty of a $500 fine, 30 days in jail, or both. Those are the statutory definition and maximum penalty; the charge itself is not a finding that the arrested person committed the offense.
Unresolved Questions Remain
As the outlet notes, the footage alone does not establish whether Bryant was resisting or whether the force deputies used was justified — leaving the two accounts standing in direct conflict with each other. Questions remain about what led to the physical encounter, how much force was used, and whether deputies' actions are under any kind of review.
Berkeley County’s 2023 annual report offers a snapshot of the office’s internal review workload: it recorded 33 citizen complaints, seven of which were sustained for minor policy violations. The report separately counted 18 Internal Affairs investigations, six sustained, and said some involved use-of-force reviews. The figures describe the office’s 2023 activity and do not indicate whether the fair incident was reviewed or what its outcome might be.
Large crowds and fights at fairs are not unheard of regionally. Live 5 News previously reported that Charleston County deputies broke up a fight between teens at the same Coastal Carolina Fair, detaining several people, with one person treated for a head contusion at the fair's medical center. Elsewhere, Officer.com reported that the Carolina Classic Fair in Winston-Salem once closed roughly 45 minutes early after fights involving unsupervised juveniles overwhelmed police, with about 50 people ejected and officials saying appropriate criminal charges would be requested.
