News from the South - Alabama News Feed

South Carolina congresswoman accuses 4 men, including ex-fiancé, of being sexual ‘predators’ • Alabama Reflector

Published

3 months ago

February 11, 2025

Staff Editor

alabamareflector.com – Shaun Chornobroff – 2025-02-11 12:48:00

South Carolina congresswoman accuses 4 men, including ex-fiancé, of being sexual ‘predators’

by Shaun Chornobroff, Alabama Reflector
February 11, 2025

This story originally appeared on South Carolina Daily Gazette.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, accused four men, including her ex-fiancé, of “some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable” during a nearly hour-long prepared speech Monday night on the House floor.

The 1st District congresswoman said she discovered thousands of photos taken with hidden cameras as well as recordings the “predators” made of themselves sexual assaulting women over years. She was among the victims. Some were underage girls, she said.

“None of you will get away with it,” said Mace, who has represented the Lowcountry since 2020. “None of you will because tonight is about justice for all of the women that you all raped, that you all filmed, that you all photographed, that you all abused for years.”

Headshots of the four men, along with where they live, were on a poster that read “PREDATORS. STAY AWAY FROM.”

All four men strongly denied the allegations to The Post and Courier after the speech.

“I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name,” her ex-fiancé, Patrick Bryant of Charleston County, told the newspaper.

The two broke up in late 2023, which would be after Mace said she found the evidence.

The State Law Enforcement Division confirmed after her speech that Bryant is being investigated for assault, harassment and voyeurism.

The investigation started Dec. 14, 2023, after SLED was contacted by U.S. Capitol Police. Multiple interviews and search warrants have happened since. A “well-documented case file” will eventually be available. But the “complex” case is ongoing and involves multiple lawyers, SLED said in a statement.

Once the investigation is complete, the file will be sent to a prosecutor for review, it concluded.

The statement did not name any of the other three men Mace called out in her speech.

One reached by the Gazette said he will “fight this in a court of law.”

“I unequivocally deny all the allegations made against me which are baseless, repugnant and defamatory,” Eric Bowman, former owner of the Charleston Battery soccer team, responded in a text.

‘This monster stole my body’

Mace’s speech started with a declaration that she was going “scorched earth.”

Mace, 47, said she first discovered the crimes after confronting Bryant, a computer software entrepreneur, about a text she received. He initially put his phone in a safe but later gave her the combination.

She looked through his phone and saw a woman unconscious being sexually assaulted. She also found photos of a teenager undressed “in the kind of underwear a child would wear,” she said.

Mace then said she saw another video of a slender woman with long brown hair. The woman was unaware she was being filmed, Mace said.

She turned up the volume and heard her own voice. The congresswoman zoomed in on the video. There was no denying it was her.

“My entire body was paralyzed, and I couldn’t move,” an emotional Mace said. “Were my feet on the floor? Was I breathing? I had no idea. I could feel pain shooting out of my heart, out of my chest.”

“This monster stole my body. It felt like I had been raped,” she said.

It happened in 2022, she said, while she and Bryant were at a function at an Isle of Palms property owned by him and another man she called out as part of the group of predators. She had two vodka sodas and blacked out, something she said had never happened before.

“My memories of that night are like flashes in and out of dark, flashes in and out of the night,” she said. “I was raped that night.”

Mace, who announced her engagement to Bryant in May 2022, said she could not be sure if it was Bryant who did it.

On one camera alone, she said, she found 10,633 videos, plus numerous photos of adult women and about a dozen photos of underage girls.

“I found file after file,” she said, adding that it seemed most were unaware of what was happening.

The night before she left Bryant in November 2023, Mace said she was physically assaulted by him. She added she still has a mark to this day from it.

“Rather than see this mark as a scar, I see this mark of a free woman, free from a monster,” Mace said.

Mace mentioned her Christian faith throughout her speech. She also mentioned how the daughter of Ethel Lance, a 70-year-old victim of the 2015 Mother Emmanuel shooting, forgave the killer.

“I don’t want to forgive. I don’t want to, but I know that as a woman of faith, I have to,” Mace said.

Throughout her speech, the phone number of a hotline for victims was displayed on a poster beside her. Mace encouraged any victims of the men to call (843) 212-7048.

Attorney general accusations

Mace also accused Attorney General Alan Wilson, an expected foe in the 2026 governor’s race, of not addressing the crimes against her and other women — allegations his office called “categorically false.”

During her speech, Mace stood next to a poster of Wilson that read “Do-Nothing Attorney General,” a moniker she has routinely used to describe him.

Mace said she turned evidence of her findings over to the attorney general, who failed to take any action with it and at one point refused further evidence.

But Wilson said neither he nor anyone in his office had any knowledge of the accusations until her speech. His office has not received any reports or requests for assistance from any law enforcement agency or prosecutor’s office, his office said in a statement released shortly after the speech.

Beyond that, it is not the attorney general’s job to start a police investigation, the statement noted.

“Ms. Mace either does not understand or is purposefully mischaracterizing the role of the attorney general” as the state’s chief prosecutor, it said.

As for her claim that Wilson refused to receive evidence, his office said, “the attorney general would always direct any citizen to provide evidence of a crime to the appropriate law enforcement agency, which would be responsible for the investigation.”

The lengthy statement also pointed out that Wilson and Mace have been at multiple events together over the past six months and that Mace has Wilson’s personal cellphone number.

“Not once has she approached or reached out to him regarding any of her concerns,” it read.

Mace has made stops around the state in recent weeks as she contemplates a gubernatorial bid. Gov. Henry McMaster is ineligible to run again, creating wide-open field.

So far, only former reality TV star and state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel has announced a run for governor, which he did on X last week.

But Mace, Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pam Evette are the three most expected to run. Mace has been highly critical of both Wilson and Evette on social media.

Transgender controversies

Mace has also been making headlines for recent comments about transgender people.

In November, she led the charge to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol and House office buildings.

Her resolution followed Delaware electing Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson then issued a rule that “all single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.”

Mace then introduced legislation to expand the rule to all federal buildings, as well as a separate bill applying the rule to restrooms nationwide. It threatens to prohibit federal aid to any company or government not complying. No action has been taken on either of those bills yet.

Last Thursday, Mace was criticized as using offensive language toward trans people during a House Oversight Committee hearing on spending by the United States Agency for International Development, known as USAID, which the Trump administration has halted.

Mace accused USAID of “funding some of the dumbest, I mean stupidest, just dumbest initiatives imaginable, all supported by the left,” citing a list of diversity and transgender advocacy initiatives funded around the world.

“Our foreign assistance system is badly broken, and this ends now,” she said in a video of her questioning she proudly included in her weekly newsletter.

When a Democrat on the committee told Mace she was using a slur to the LGBTQ community, she interrupted him and repeated the term multiple times, saying, “I really don’t care. You want penises in women’s bathrooms, and I’m not going to have it.”

The day before, she received a personal shoutout from President Donald Trump when he signed an executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in female sports.

During her speech Monday on the House floor, Mace touted multiple bills she introduced to protect women.

They include legislation titled the Prison Rape Prevention Act, which requires prisoners to be housed and transported based on their biological sex. She said she introduced the bill “so a woman can’t be raped by a man who thinks he’s a woman.”

And she doubled down on her critics.

“I’ll take all of the arrows and all of the attacks, if it means I’m taking these attacks for each and every one of you,” Mace said. “I’m doing this today because we can’t delay justice. Justice victims like myself need to move forward.”

Mace cannot be sued for her accusations. The Speech or Debate Clause protects members of Congress from lawsuits for what is said on the floor.

SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

The post South Carolina congresswoman accuses 4 men, including ex-fiancé, of being sexual ‘predators’ • Alabama Reflector appeared first on alabamareflector.com

Up Next

Alabama House passes bill expanding death penalty to child sexual assault • Alabama Reflector

Don't Miss

News 5 Now at 8 | Feb 11, 2025

News from the South - Alabama News Feed

Alabama Legislature sends 2026 ETF, General Fund budgets to Gov. Kay Ivey

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

alabamareflector.com – Alander Rocha – 2025-04-30 07:01:00

by Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector
April 30, 2025

The Alabama Legislature Tuesday gave final approval to the state’s two budgets for the 2026 fiscal year, but not without a battle.

The Alabama Senate passed a $3.7 billion 2026 General Fund budget late Tuesday night on a 30-0 vote after an hours-long slowdown.

HB 186, sponsored by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, would provide a 10% increase ($347 million) over the current budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which starts October 1.

“In many cases, you had a reduction in what your request had been. Everyone of us had that … so we’re in a dichotomy here where we have the largest budget we’ve ever had, and yet, we have the tightest constraints and control that we’ve had in recent memory,” said Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, who chairs the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee, pointing to Medicaid’s significant budget increase that will bring its budget to over $1 billion.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, asked for the 125-page funding bill to be read in its entirety Tuesday afternoon, which delayed the vote by hours. He said after the Senate adjourned that he didn’t want controversial bills to be passed without deliberation, and that he was afraid the Senate would move to adopt a different set of bills to consider.

“[The House] did have a second calendar, and it was going to be the same thing here in terms of the desire to have a second calendar, and I thought that we need to just work on that particular calendar,” Smitherman said after the Senate adjourned.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

The Alabama Medicaid Agency, which provides health insurance for over 1 million Alabamians, nearly all children, elderly citizens and those with disabilities, will get $1.179 billion from the state, a $223.8 million (19%) increase over this year. Ivey requested $1.184 billion in February, about $5 million more than what the House approved.

The Alabama Department of Corrections, which administers the state prisons, will get a $90.1 million increase (11%) to $826.7 million.

The Alabama Department of Human Resources, which provides child and adult protective services, enforces child support payments and administers food and family assistance, will get $148.9 million from the state in 2026, a $4.7 million (3%) increase from the current budget.

The Alabama Department of Mental Health, which provides mental health care services in the state, will get a $4.7 million increase (2%) to $244 million. The Legislature cut the funding from Ivey’s recommendation by $3.7 million.

But senators also appeared to want to send a message to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, which has drawn mounting criticism from Democratic and Republican senators over low parole rates and what senators consider a lack of responsiveness to their questions about the parole process. The Senate cut the board’s funding from $94.5 million to $90.6 million, a 4.1% decrease.

In addition, Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, added an amendment to make funding for the Board of Pardons & Paroles conditional on the board developing parole release guidelines. The amendment passed on a 27-0 vote.

“What they do, as y’all know, they adopt guidelines. Those are supposed to be updated and revised. They have not done that,” he said.

The board has faced backlash after parole rates declined significantly after 2017, when members granted parole to about 54% of applicants. The rates fell as low as 7% at times, according to an analysis by the ACLU of Alabama in 2023, but rebounded to slightly more than 20% within the past year.

The Senate also passed HB 185, also sponsored by Reynolds, which would appropriate $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Department of Finance and provide over $12.6 million to the Unified Judicial System.

“This bill is supplemental monies just taking federal money and appropriating it,” Albritton said.

The House concurred with the changes late Tuesday evening, sending the bill to Gov. Kay Ivey.

The Senate also concurred with House changes to SB 112, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, a nearly $10 billion 2026 Education Trust Fund budget (ETF).

The House changes added $17.6 million to the budget, bringing it to a 6% increase over the 2025 ETF budget. The budget does not contain pay raises for teachers in the 2025-26 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. But it includes a $99.2 million increase for the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Plan, as well as funding for workman’s compensation for education employees and paid parental leave.

The Senate also concurred with the ETF supplemental funding bills, including SB 113, also sponsored by Orr, a $524 million 2025 supplemental appropriation for education that passed the House with an amendment changing language to clarify dual enrollment programs funding.

The Senate also concurred with House changes to SB 111, sponsored by Orr, which would appropriate $375 million over three years to implement changes to the state’s school funding formula.

The House added an additional $80 million from the Education Opportunity Reserve Fund to the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students’ Education (CHOOSE) Act Fund, a voucher-like program that gives tax credits for non-public school spending, including private school tuition. The first-year cost estimate will go from $100 million to $180 million, an 80% increase. Over two-thirds of applicants to the program are already in private school or are homeschooled.

The story was updated at 10:30 a.m. to include comment from Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, regarding the procedural delay.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

SUPPORT

The post Alabama Legislature sends 2026 ETF, General Fund budgets to Gov. Kay Ivey appeared first on alabamareflector.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The content primarily reports on the legislative proceedings and budget approval in Alabama, focusing on the specifics of the Senate’s actions, including discussions and amendments. The tone is factual, without clear support or opposition to any political party or position. It details the actions of both Republican and Democratic senators, presenting them neutrally. The mention of funding allocations, including increases for Medicaid and the Department of Corrections, appears to be a straightforward report on the outcome of legislative decisions, without showing favor to any side. The coverage adheres to neutral, factual reporting rather than offering an ideological stance.

News from the South - Alabama News Feed

Bail reform bills moving through Alabama Legislature in final days of session

Published

2 days ago

April 29, 2025

Staff Editor

alabamareflector.com – Ralph Chapoco – 2025-04-29 07:01:00

by Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector
April 29, 2025

Two bills that would change Alabama’s bail system are working their way through the Legislature in the waning days of the 2025 session.

The Senate Judiciary Committee hosted a public hearing Wednesday for HB 42, sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, which gives judges the authority to allow defendants to pay a portion of their total bond to be released from pretrial detention.

HB 410, sponsored by Rep. Shane Stringer, R-Citronelle, which was approved by the House Judiciary Committee, modifies the composition of the Alabama Professional Bail Bonding Board, expands the exemptions for the fees that bail bond companies must pay the court, increases penalties for bail jumping and adds more regulations for bail bond companies when they operate in another state.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

A message was sent to Stringer Monday seeking comment.

HB 42 has passed the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House is scheduled to vote on HB 410 on Tuesday. England’s bill adds three words, “a part of” back into an Alabama statute that were removed when the same Legislature enacted the Alabama Bail Reform Act of 1993.

The removal of the words meant judges in the state could not allow defendants to pay a percentage of their bond to get release from pretrial detention.

“What that translates into is a large amount of money that would normally go to the court system, instead of going to the court system, it goes to a bondsman,” England said to the committee Wednesday.

People can secure their release after an arrest if they pay a bail bond company. The premium, which is typically 10% of the total amount of the bond, is paid to the bail bond company, which then must ensure the individuals go to their court appearances.

The money that people pay when released on a percentage bond would be retained by the court and kept if defendants fail to appear for their court dates.

The Alabama Bail Bond Association has been a vocal opponent of the bill, speaking out against the legislation at a March public hearing and the House Judiciary Committee considered it then and eventually approved the bill a week later.

Victor Howard, vice president of the Alabama Bail Bond Association and bail bond company owner, said that enacting the legislation would reduce accountability for defendants to appear for their court dates.

Chris McNeil, the president of the Alabama Bail Bond Association, suggested Monday in an interview that the rates that people would not appear for court would increase. He also cited records from the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts saying that people who paid cash to be released from pretrial detention in 2022 and 2023 had a failure to appear (FTA) rate of 55%.

“The court just can’t function when you have a failure to appear rate of 55%,” McNeil said Monday. “The bonding companies were averaging about a 14%-15% failure to appear rate. And were able to trim that rate by returning defendants back to court.”

England told the committee that the numbers do not present a fair comparison to percentage bonds.

“The numbers are obviously going to be off because there are more people on smaller offenses with cash bonds versus somebody who is on a large bond with a bondsman,” England said to the committee on Wednesday. “Obviously, there is going to be a higher number of FTAs on smaller cases, traffic tickets, because they all count.”

Jerome Dees, policy director from the Southern Poverty Law Center, supported the legislation.

“The vast majority of times when there was an FTA that was ultimately secured, and the defendant showed up in court, it largely was due to law enforcement bringing that individual in and not the bail bond company,” he said to the committee on Wednesday. “That is not to say that it never happened, but the vast majority of time it was law enforcement bringing that particular individual in.”

McNeil said in an interview Monday he supports HB 410, Stringer’s bill.

“It expands the Alabama Professional Bail Bonding Board by adding a sheriff to the board, adding a layperson, so I think that is very important,” he said.

It also states that any fees that bail bond companies pay to the court that have not been deposited within 90 days and that have an expiration date “shall be deemed uncollected” and will no longer hold the bail bond company responsible for making the payment.

The bill also exempts bail bond companies from fees that the courts or district attorneys have not attempted to collect past one year from the original due date.

HB 410 also adds more conditions such that the bail bond company will not pay a fee, known as forfeiture, to the court when in cases that the defendant fails to appear in court.

McNeil said the bill would cancel that forfeiture payment if someone was not placed in the National Crime Information Center and failed to appear in court, or if the bail bond company brings back a defendant that the jail refuses to accept.

The bill also addresses instances when an individual travels out of state and enhances the penalty for bail jumping, going from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $7,500 fine.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

SUPPORT

The post Bail reform bills moving through Alabama Legislature in final days of session appeared first on alabamareflector.com

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The content focuses on legislative efforts to reform Alabama’s bail system, highlighting a bill sponsored by a Democratic representative aimed at allowing partial bond payments to reduce the financial burden on defendants. It presents arguments from both supporters and opponents, including the bail bond industry’s concerns and civil rights advocacy perspectives. The article leans slightly left by emphasizing criminal justice reform and the perspective of proponents seeking to reduce penal system inequities, yet it maintains a generally balanced tone by including conservative viewpoints and the legislative process details.

News from the South - Alabama News Feed

7-Year-Old Calls 911, Helps Save Family Member's Life | April 28, 2025 | News 19 at 10 p.m.

Published

3 days ago

April 28, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – WHNT News 19 – 2025-04-28 23:17:38

SUMMARY: Seven-year-old Maddux Kendrick from New Market showed remarkable bravery by calling 911 when his stepmom, Megan Douglas, who has epilepsy, suffered a seizure on New Year’s Day. While playing video games and watching TV, Maddux noticed Megan fell and was having a seizure. Calmly, he first called Megan’s mother and then 911, providing precise information and helping the operator monitor Megan’s breathing until EMTs arrived. His quick thinking likely saved her life, as she later had another seizure and might have suffered worse alone. Maddux received a Good Samaritan Award for his courage and presence of mind, making his family very proud.