Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #118 - ‘Squires-Gate’ Children at Gunpoint: Teen Victims & the Sheriff’s Posse Gone Wild

Starting point is 00:00:00 I don't know if the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is going to do the right thing and hold every adult accountable who participated in the incident that went viral this week where teenage boys were held at gunpoint for no justifiable reason. But I do know it is my job as a journalist who lives here to shine sunlight on this case until they do something about it. My name is Mandy Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption, previously known as the Murdoch Murders podcast, which inspired Hulu's original series Murdochak Death in the Family, premiering this October 15th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production written with journalist Liz Farrell.

Starting point is 00:01:00 Hello and happy October. In good news, Taylor Swift's album comes out this week and our Hulu show Murdoch Death and the Family will be released in less than two weeks. I say that because the rest of the news that we have to share today is not so good. And unfortunately, we had to switch gears this week to cover a story happening right here where I live on Hilton Head because frankly, I worry that if we don't put the pressure on agencies to hold their own accountable, no one else will. This week on Cup of Justice, we talked about the shocking video of an off-duty deputy

Starting point is 00:01:41 terrorizing teenage boys in his Hilton Head neighborhood with a weapon. I cannot stop thinking about this incident, and I'm mostly angry about the way that the Buford County Sheriff's Office, one of the few police agencies I have vocally supported in the past, and where Liz actually used to work, they appear to be actively protecting the deputy from public scrutiny, as they still have not released his identity. So let's get into it. On Sunday evening, a woman on Facebook named Alexis Brianna shared a one-and-a-half-minute video with a caption that said, quote, on Sunday September 28, 2025, an intoxicated an off-duty police officer approached my nephew and his friends while they were taking a walk through the

Starting point is 00:02:33 neighborhood. The post said, quote, initially, the officer did not have on his gear, so when he questioned the children about what they were up to, they refused to answer. The children in this video attempted to walk away, which led to this officer going home to put on his gear, follow, and harass them, and ultimately leading to this incident. We're going to play a a few clips from this video, and I should say this more often, but trigger warning. Even the audio is chilling and disturbing. I also want to point out that this incident involves at least four boys between the ages of 13 and 19. At least two of the boys, the 13-year-old who we are calling Timmy and the 19-year-old who we are calling Johnny were white. I confirmed

Starting point is 00:03:21 with a family member that one of the other boys involved was Hispanic and one of the other boys that was involved was black. I say this because race does matter and it factors in here. Not only is there the unfortunately familiar story of law enforcement, sometimes fatally misreading cues from unarmed black and brown citizens. This is the south and this is an island where a good percentage of homes are behind gate, where outsiders are noticed and not always welcomed. In this video, a white man with a beard and khaki shorts and eagle's hat, hey dude slip on shoes, and a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, tactical vest over a sloppy black button-down shirt, aggressively approaches the group of boys. And when I say aggressively,

Starting point is 00:04:13 he was charging at them, like a bull, and waving a gun at them. This took place in a small, quiet community of about 40 homes on the north end of Hilton Head called Squire's Gate. And that is not gated. Also, according to the town of Hilton Head's map, the street is owned by the state, meaning the boys were allowed to be walking on the street because it is public property. Get on the ground. Bro, what the ground? Come here.

Starting point is 00:04:43 Come here. Yeah, you see. Get down. Oh, you're about getting wrestled. Get on the ground. What the fuck? On the ground. All right.

Starting point is 00:04:52 Hey, sir, can you call the cops, please. Hey, call the police. I am the police. What are you doing? In the video, the deputy who we have identified from multiple sources as being Master Sergeant Billy Squires is ordering the kids to get on the ground. One of them yells for a neighbor to call police and Squires while terrorizing these children snaps back with vengeance.

Starting point is 00:05:15 He says, I am the police. The 13-year-old kid who we are calling Timmy immediately fell to his knees. Timmy notices while on his knees that Squires, who looks like he's wearing a police costume because of how disheveled he is, has taken his backpack. This is where the situation escalates further and chaos breaks out. Timmy appears not to be aware that Squires, a man who earlier yelled at him and his friends from an unmarked pickup to leave the neighborhood, is a deputy. and Timmy seems perplexed by the fact that this random adult just took his bag. We have watched this video a lot and both Mandy and I think Squire's raging lizard cop brain must have paused for a quick second and he realized that he needed a reason to be doing

Starting point is 00:06:04 what he was doing in that moment, pointing what is presumably his service weapon at teenagers. As a longtime deputy, he would have known that he needed probable cause for searching that backpack and claiming the kids might have a gun could work in his favor. And Timmy's developing lizard brain also reacted in the moment. He sees this ranting, raving, grown man go from a guy in regular clothes to now a guy in regular clothes with some sort of police vest thrown on him and pointing a gun at him. And this man suddenly makes moves to steal his book back?

Starting point is 00:06:38 In that moment, Timmy springs off the asphalt and lunges towards squires to grab it back. That's when another boy, who we will call TJ, jumps in to help his friend and get that backpack back from Squires. Now, we've heard that a neighbor told Squires that the kids had a gun. I don't think any of this would have played out this way if those kids had a gun. I think until this point, the boys were unaware of the gun rumor, which explains why Timmy was seemingly dumbfounded at this grown man making him kneel in the middle of the street so he could take his backpack. Johnny, the oldest, who is still filming, knows this is now getting very dangerous, and he starts screaming at T.J. Stop it. Get the fuck of the ground.

Starting point is 00:07:23 You, hey, stop. Hey, no, no, no, stop. Stop, no, no, stop, do not you. The officer then steps back away from the boys and reaches for his handgun. It sounds like he says, I will shoot you, while aim. the gun at Timmy. Johnny screams, no, no, no, stop. In a heartbreaking shrill, Squires then lowers his weapon and looks directly at Johnny. For a millisecond, it looks like he is about to put his gun away. But then, Squires changes his mind, raises his weapon, and points

Starting point is 00:08:04 it directly at Johnny, who sounds terrified, stunned, and confused. What, dude, what are you doing? Hey, why are you pointing a gun at me? Dude, what are you doing? Squires continues to point the gun at Johnny, then at the kid behind him. It's hard to tell from the video, but it looked like Squires grabs Johnny and shakes him before throwing him to the ground. Squires, still with a gun in hand, then grabs another kid and starts dragging him down. the street. Johnny then does what any desperate child would do when he needs someone to come to his

Starting point is 00:08:45 rescue. He starts screaming for his mother in a gut-wrenching shrill that should have alerted the entire neighborhood. Mom! He's dragging him! Yo, what are you doing? What are you doing now? Dude, what the fuck is your problem? The boys are pleading and begging and mostly they don't stop to understand why a man dressed up as a cop is forcing them to kneel in the middle of the street. At this point, two neighborhood men appear in the background, and a boy yells something like, Paul, call the sheriff's office. Call the sheriff's office.

Starting point is 00:09:24 All right. Come on the ground. Get on the ground. At the end of the video, the boys were kneeling on the ground, begging for help, with deputy squires hovering over them. In the distance, two men stomped toward the boys as they scream for mercy. They thought help was on the way, but help was not on the way. The two men appeared to be on Squire's side.

Starting point is 00:09:52 Get the F to the ground, the heavyset man in the green shirt says as he barrels toward the kneeling children right before the video cuts out. That brings us to part two of what we're calling Squiresgate, Gate. The next video is somehow even more disturbing. The heavyset man in the green shirt, who we have not yet identified and are going to refer to as Dick, is now on top of the 13-year-old Timmy who is based down on the street. Dick's chubby right hand appears to be pressing and grabbing somewhere near Timmy's butt, which is odd. And his left hand is squeezing the base of Timmy's neck as Timmy squirms on the ground and screams. Yo, Mom! They're saying we have a gun.

Starting point is 00:10:36 At this point, the boys realize that the men are accusing them of having a gun, and they all seem to understand the severity of the situation. Johnny apparently can see his mom approaching from down the street. Squires then enters the frame and advances on Johnny, who again is the kid filming, and tells him to get on the ground again. Listen to this encounter right here. It is incredibly important to the story. You do not need to have the stop this.

Starting point is 00:11:09 Do not touch me? Please don't want to touch me. You attack me? Stay down. No, I didn't attack you. I know. I don't know. I do. I do not know you. Right here. Stay down. What did I just? My brother called me. He was crying. What just happened? I don't know what happened. They're flashing a gun, bro. These kids don't have a fucking gun. What the hell?

Starting point is 00:11:25 Mom, they're saying they have a gun. What? You guys fucking up there are flashing a gun. It's stupid. I don't have a car. You're done. Send units to Squires going. Mom, Kalka Ron. They're saying I have a gun. They're saying I have a gun. Squire says to Johnny, you know me.

Starting point is 00:11:41 And Johnny says, what the hell? I don't know you? Why are you saying that? And why the hell are you saying we have a gun? Johnny's response is telling. He's taken aback by the accusation that they supposedly have a gun. And at the same time, realizes that this puts him and his friends in immediate danger. Which is why he screams for his mother, who is about 50 yards away now with her dog.

Starting point is 00:12:03 At the same time, one of the men, it sounds like Squires, is either called. Calling 911 are using his vest radio to send units to the street ASAP. Johnny's mom then walks closer to them and politely tells the men, nobody has a gun. Listen to how these grown men treat the mother of the boy crying for her help. Walk away. Mom. I just came on.

Starting point is 00:12:28 I was just in the house. What the fuck just happened? Walk away. Yo! What just happened? My little brother called me crying and I came down here. Squiresgate in the middle of the street. Send them down.

Starting point is 00:12:44 Mom. Johnny is barefoot and shaking on the ground in his football pajamas. His mom is trying to help, but Squires, in his cop costume, is screaming at her to walk away. Johnny says that his little brother called him crying earlier, and he has no idea why the men are doing this to them. A neighborhood man who has not been identified is now squeezing Johnny by the neck, keeping him from moving. There is commotion where his mom and brother are across the street. But Johnny can't get to them because this dude is keeping him on the ground. This actually looks like a kidnapping that we're witnessing.

Starting point is 00:13:27 Listen closely. What the fuck did I just do? Hold that more. Yo. What is happening? Can you stop squeezing my neck? A flashed a gun down here. He flashed a gun at line down there.

Starting point is 00:13:43 And when I got here, he started to attack. Hey! At this point, a white man wearing a blue shirt and flip-flops pulls up in a white SUV next to Johnny, who is sitting on the ground barefoot while a grown man behind him holds him. This man has not yet been identified, but get this. He appears to be another off-duty car. You would think a deputy would roll up to the situation, seeing grown men holding down a kid in his pajamas in the middle of the street, would immediately spring into action to help the kids, but not this cop. This cop seems unbothered. Squires tells him his narrative of what happened, saying that these kids flashed a gun and started, quote, to attack me.

Starting point is 00:14:26 Johnny continues to vocally reject that narrative while a man off camera is holding him down. Listen to Jimmy politely plead with the man to let him go. Do you stop touching me, sir, I'm going to squeeze if you and try to get away. I'm going to sit down. I swear to God, please. I'm just confused what's happening. You know, so am I, brother. Oh, my. I'm not going to hurt you. Okay, I know. I'm not running away. I promise me. I'm really confused what's happening.

Starting point is 00:14:50 You're letting up. No, I can walk out with this. I didn't you walk around me. I swear to God, I understand. I'll do this same way, sir. I promise it to be calm. I know, I'm calm. These are my little, I'm just confused. I'm dang as calm as I can. I don't know what's happening. I want to talk. Did you hear the adult saying that he doesn't know exactly why he's holding Johnny hostage at that point?

Starting point is 00:15:14 Yet he's just doing it because some maniac off-duty cop told him so? The man holding Johnny appears to be a neighbor with white hair and a beard, wearing black shoes with Velcro closures. I would hope that Sled, which is investigating this incident to see if criminal charges are warranted, sees clearly that Squires is not the only adult who should be charged in this situation. The co-conspirators who went along with his orders and made this situation exponentially worse, they should be held to account as well. There is commotion on the other side of the street involving Johnny's brother and his mother.

Starting point is 00:15:58 He clearly wants to go over there. But this old dude with a white hair is physically holding him back. Again, that's called kidnapping, right? Johnny continues to plead with a man, but he will not let go of him. What is happening, bro? These little boys, they don't have a gun. I don't know. No one has a gun.

Starting point is 00:16:21 Bro, we're left. What the fuck just happened? The video at this point just shows Johnny Johnny's view from the ground. Johnny can see his little brother Timmy getting animated in the driveway and waving his hand as he screams, no one had a gun. This is the only part that gets better. Johnny immediately emerges as the smartest man on the block by saying this.

Starting point is 00:16:46 Yo, this is a lawsuit. This is such a lawsuit. Oh my god, this is a lawsuit. What do you please like a... I didn't do anything. What is happening? Stop, go, go. No, what the fuck you mean?

Starting point is 00:16:57 Stop, I just came from my house. What do you mean, stop? Get off me. I'm not going to go anywhere. Please let go on me. Let go. As Johnny is on the ground crying and screaming, and begging for these men to let them go,

Starting point is 00:17:11 the man in the blue shirt, who he believed to be a cop, but who does not appear to have identified himself as such, slowly staggers toward Johnny while he's on the cell phone. He shows zero empathy for Johnny. He just raises his other hand, the one not holding the phone, and says, stop. Johnny then breaks away from his alleged kidnapper and the video cuts out. Don't worry, there is so much more to talk about on this.

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Starting point is 00:18:34 Growtherapy.com slash sunlight. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. The two videos spread like wildfire early this week. Around 10 a.m. Monday, the beaver County Sheriff's Office released the following statement. Here is David. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is aware of an incident involving a deputy that occurred in a neighborhood on

Starting point is 00:19:05 Hilton Head yesterday evening, September 28, 2025. The deputy involved in the incident has been suspended pending an internal investigation and any possible criminal investigation. If anyone has information including videos that could be helpful in this investigation, we will, We ask that you please share them with the Internal Affairs Investigator assigned to this case. Lieutenant Drazen at office number 843-255-3404 and or at email A-Drazen, A-D-R-A-I-S-E-N at B-C-Gov.net. I'm going to guess this incident is going to be part of public information officer training courses in the future for what, not to do in a situation like this one where a good portion of your community has already seen this video of a deputy committing crimes against children. It's sort of confounding that this statement

Starting point is 00:20:06 was their first move. Yes, it is great that they recognize the situation and it is wonderful that they're informing the community that the deputy has been suspended pending an internal investigation and quote any possible criminal investigation. First, again, the community has seen this video. They see what's happening on it. And second, I love that they said possible criminal investigation as if it's so far-fetched to think that there will be criminal charges after an unhinged off-duty cop recklessly pointed his weapon directly at children as his unhinged good old boy buddies grabbed the kids and held them down. This choice should not release the deputy's name to the public is also really confounding in this situation. His face is everywhere. The name of

Starting point is 00:20:53 of his street is everywhere. We know what he wore on his day off. We know his football team. We don't need a full investigation for this man to be named, and it shouldn't matter that this is generally the policy of the sheriff's office. This is different from Bubaboo driving his cruiser into a parked car. You have an internal investigation of a publicly paid employee who committed these acts of aggression publicly, and presumably not with the blessing of the sheriff's office. It would seem to me that the sheriff's office would want his name out there knowing that he has worked for this agency and in this community for almost 28 years and oh hey, his name might be familiar to people who might have seen this behavior before,

Starting point is 00:21:37 but we're too afraid of the repercussions to speak up. It seems like giving his name to the public would be an important part of the investigation. But now, the police get to operate in a comfy bubble that the rest of us don't have the benefit of when it comes to investigations into our publicly disruptive behaviors. You think fifth grade teachers like having their names, addresses, dates of birth, and pitiful mugshots out there when they get arrested for a DUI or disorderly conduct? No, but that's how it goes. You think nurses, doctors, engineers, cashiers, business owners, and stay-at-home parents like having their names out there after they're caught on camera doing something egregious and potentially criminal?

Starting point is 00:22:19 Uh, no. Those vocations don't come with automatic police protection, but being a law enforcement officer comes with police protection. Funny how that works. Can you imagine if we were only decent to the people in our chosen lines of career? Good luck being a deputy who needs surgery. Sorry, only surgeons get to have surgery. Anyway, it's also good that the sheriff's officer.

Starting point is 00:22:46 is asking for information, but not when they have taken so little action to hold the deputy involved accountable for what we already saw him do on the video. Can't y'all just quickly investigate that and throw him in jail based on, what do you all call it, probable cause? Prosecutors talk so much smack about not having enough direct evidence in a case. At this point, Less than 24 hours after this incident happened, they have direct evidence. It's a little ridiculous to see that they are asking for the public's help with this investigation while they have done nothing with the evidence that has already been presented. And frankly, they have no respect for the public, who they are withholding the deputy's name from.

Starting point is 00:23:36 The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office also turned off their comments on their post about this, making it more difficult for everyone to see the large amount of public outrage brewing. Four hours after the first video was posted, as shares, likes, comments, and overall outrage surrounding the video grew by the minute, the sheriff's office released another statement. Here is David reading again. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is conducting an internal affairs investigation into an incident involving an off-duty deputy.

Starting point is 00:24:11 On Sunday, September 28, 2025 at approximately 6.47 p.m., the sheriff's office responded to calls of a disturbance in a community on Hiltonhead. Upon the deputy's arrival, it was learned that an off-duty deputy was involved in the incident in the neighborhood where he resides. Shortly after the incident, the deputy was suspended without pay. He was relieved of his credentials. Badge, Sheriff's Office issued weapons and equipment by a command staff member who responded to the scene. Deputies are held to a higher standard, as they must abide by all BCSO policies and procedures both on and off duty. The Internal Affairs investigation is an administrative investigation that could take some time to complete, with multiple people needing to be interviewed.

Starting point is 00:25:07 The Sheriff's Office is asking for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, SLED, to investigate this incident for any possible criminal violations. Any results of a SLED criminal investigation would be forwarded to the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office for review. It is important to understand that while our office is conducting an administrative investigation, any criminal investigation being conducted by SLED will be conducted as a hair-allowed. investigation in accordance with the standards set forth by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement agencies, C-A-L-E-A. We appreciate any concerns and comments involving this case. In an effort to allow the investigations to be conducted, we will not be responding to any further questions regarding this incident at this time.

Starting point is 00:26:00 We would appreciate it if anyone who has information to provide, that they cooperate with both our agency and SLED if required during this investigation. At a future point in time, the deputy's identity will be released. After this statement was issued, the story went from local to internet viral. The sheriff's office did not put out the fire with this press release. They actually fans the flames. If the situation immediately called for Squire

Starting point is 00:26:36 badge to be revoked, his credentials to be stripped, and his sheriff's office weapons to be taken away, then why would they keep his name a secret? And why wasn't he arrested then? What is the point of a secret internal affairs investigation if he did something so wrong that it called for a command staff member to take his badge away on scene? I understand that the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office should not investigate their own cops. But they absolutely should be able to arrest their own when they immediately see probable cause for arrest. In this case, Squires demonstrated behavior that made him a danger to the public, in our opinion at least. The police are supposed to be arresting people who are an immediate danger to the public, especially when direct

Starting point is 00:27:29 evidence is presented like it was in this case. When someone has pulled over for a DUI. Does Beaufort County calls Sled to do a full month-long investigation? No. They collect enough evidence for probable cause and they arrest the person and charge them immediately. County jails across the country, ours included, are filled with people who are arrested for minor infractions, like public disorderly conduct, petty theft, and my favorite, walking on a highway. Yes, that's a real law. These people don't get the benefit of a pre-arrest sled investigation they get thrown in the slammer and they get charged with a crime that they have to fight in court this is where our system splits there are varying

Starting point is 00:28:16 degrees of probable cause depending on who is investigating in the person who is being investigated on the video we can see a number of potential charges that exist here kidnapping assault and battery a legal search and seizure pointing at presenting cruelty to children, endangering children. The list goes on. The vast majority of people commenting online were outraged at the fact that a cop was suspended without pay rather than outright fired. They're also upset that the Bufre County Sheriff's Office isn't releasing his name, which again, there is no reason whatsoever to keep that from the public besides wanting to protect him from immediate backlash. It was especially obvious that the moms of the internet were

Starting point is 00:29:06 mad about this and thinking about their own children, saying things like, quote, as a mother of a 16-year-old boy, hearing this child scream for his mom shatters me. And quote, if they did this to my kid, there would be big problems. End quote, the boy who yelled for his mom activated all mothers. I am so angry. That outrage felt universal earlier this week, like the majority of the people who saw the video were feeling the same emotions. Anger towards Squires, who was clearly abusing his position of power to terrify children, but also the feeling of relief, because there were so many seconds in those videos where it felt like Squires was so close to pulling the trigger and ending a life. We have seen that so many times before, and it is devastating and enraging to witness a situation that felt so close

Starting point is 00:30:06 to murder. But what did the sheriff's office do after this video went viral? They did what good old boys do best, continued to double down on their mistakes. In Tuesday's Cup of Justice, Mandy, Eric, and I all agreed that the context of this situation really did not matter here. There are very few scenarios that could warrant a deputy and his bully friends manhandling children in the street. Still, the skeptics on the internet, the same types of people who attacked us for writing critically of Ehrlich Murdoch in the aftermath of his son and wife's murder, were loud with the same sentiment. What did the kids do before this happened? Well, I don't consider this essential question to this scenario, and I absolutely hate the blame the victim, take the cop's side

Starting point is 00:30:52 mentality that is ingrained in the minds of so many, it's important for us to find the answer to this question for everyone to better understand just how messed up this situation is. On Tuesday evening, the parents of the children involved in the incident released two other videos showing from the kids' perspective what happened before this. So to the few jerks out there immediately blaming the kids because a law enforcement officer couldn't possibly be unhinged and in the wrong, this is for you. Here's what happened before. The best thing is for you guys to be. But what do we do, though?

Starting point is 00:31:26 I don't understand what we did. We were walking and then he comes up behind us. Oh, and shit, telling me where we live, but I don't, I don't care. I don't have to tell them where I stay. Like, we're walking in the neighborhood, doing nothing, and then you guys don't live here. Huh? You don't live here. I live in the neighborhood right next to me.

Starting point is 00:31:44 No, they don't care. They don't care. Why do they, why they? Listen, guys, I'm trying to help you. They don't have to come up here. Hey, I'm trying to help you. Do you guys want to get arrested or not? But what?

Starting point is 00:31:57 You're arrested for what? Get arrested for one. You're arrested for one. In this video, which I promise is better in audio because the visuals will make you seasick. The camera boy was very fidgety, which is understandable. Squires is seen pulling up next to the kids in his unmarked truck. In the second, they ask him why he loses his temper. The other video released two.

Starting point is 00:32:21 on WSAV, which appears to be as though it's the first of the series of events, meaning it happens before Squires pulled up the truck, and before he came out acting like a fool, shows the man in the green shirt, Squire's neighbor, riding on his four-wheeler with what appears to be an open bottle in a cup holder. According to the post and courier, he rides parallel with the kids, and when the kids ask him to stop, He tells them to move on. And one of them, according to the paper, tells the man, you're like 40 years old, bro. You're drunk as F. According to the paper, the man finally speaks and says, all I want to say is, hey, how are y'all doing? And that's when the kids said this.

Starting point is 00:33:10 And we said we're good, and you ask us where we stay. It's none of your business. You're not, you're not a cop. I don't give it. Cool. I wait. Yeah. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:33:20 If I punch you in the face on, Oh, no. Reminder, the guy in the green shirt, who we're calling Dick, is the one later seen manhandling a 13-year-old boy. At the end of the day, it seems like Squires and his Squiresgate posse, were offended that the kids pushed back on their authority as men, just men in the neighborhood on a public street telling teenagers without asking whether they lived in one of the 40 homes in the neighborhood

Starting point is 00:33:44 that they don't belong there. Which brings me back to the part of the story that's about race, because like we said, two of the boys appear to be minority. And it's hard to separate that from what appears to be an assumption made on the part of the burly neighborhood guys, specifically the one on the four-wheeler, Dick, who is believed to be the one who allegedly said the kids flashed a gun at him. Which, by the way, in the videos released yesterday when the kids were being told to leave, neither Squires nor Dick, the guy on the four-wheeler, mentioned anything about what the teens supposedly did or were doing or anything about a gun.

Starting point is 00:34:18 And in the first video, the one that was released Sunday night, you don't hear Squire say, drop your weapon. Out of nowhere, he tells them to get on the ground. What's more, in the first video, shown on Sunday night, Squires has the kid's backpack in his hand where the supposed gun presumably was, but he's still pointing his weapon at the kids. Now, I know the pro squires crowd is going to say, well, he maybe didn't know that the kids might have been holding a gun in their pocket. To that, we would say, that is exactly why he should have called this in to the sheriff's office instead of slinging on his vest and going out there

Starting point is 00:35:11 like the Terminator. On top of that, I would say if he was drinking, and we don't know if he was or wasn't, we just know that kids reportedly said he had alcohol on his breath and WSAV reported that he was intoxicated and also said BCSO did not breathalize him. Then that's even more of a reason for him to hang back and let the men and women on duty handle it. No one was in imminent danger. The guy on the four-wheeler wasn't frozen in place being held at gunpoint by these kids. And that is the issue. Not the Straman argument of, yeah, but police don't know. Sure, they don't know who is armed, but they do know whether it's a good idea to do what squires did, fueled by the very least

Starting point is 00:36:01 lizard brain anger, and I think that most would agree. No, it is not a good idea. I would also say, if the kids had a weapon, I'm pretty sure that the sheriff's office would have pointed that out already. They might have said something like, yeah, this is a bad, look, but a gun was in play, and we're looking into what happened. That might make some sense, but it still does not explain how Squires and his posse acted that day. If good cops want all of us to know that they're there, that they don't abide by this behavior, then please show us, don't tell us. And a part of showing us is by simply being transparent and open and not flexible to the circumstances. Policy or not, the reality is that Billy Squire's name is

Starting point is 00:36:55 out there on the internet. To pretend otherwise is to play coy and borrow time. Especially when some sources would say that Billy Squires is Sheriff P.J. Tanner's boy, a favorite of his. One who has been protected. And that's an important thing to know if you're looking for all of the reasons why Billy Squires hasn't been named or arrested, right? We are still investigating all angles of this incident, including Billy Squire's history at the Sheriff's Office and his connections to other people in power, like Sheriff Tanner. Oddly enough, yesterday I found that Billy Squires had legal ties to the most infamous attorney in South Carolina. Yes, Ehrlich Murdoch. Yep, years ago, Ehrlich Murdoch represented Billy

Starting point is 00:37:45 squires and a bunch of other Beaufort County employees in a lawsuit against the county. You can probably take a good guess of who the judge was in that case. Carmen Mullen, of course. It is a small world in the low country, and that's a part of the problem here. Even if Sled decides to charge Billy and his posse in this case, that would go to the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office. Who runs that? Duffy Stone. The guy who wouldn't recuse himself from the Murdoch investigation for months. The guy who gave Elyke Murdoch a badge in power for a pretty much fake position in the solicitor's office. The guy who cannot be trusted to do the right thing when it comes to holding men in power accountable. So, we have to keep shining sunlight on this case and forcing these good old boys to face it.

Starting point is 00:38:39 We have to keep the pressure on this investigation to ensure that every man who committed a crime on those videos is held to account. Keep sharing the videos on social media. Keep calling out the Beaver County Sheriff's Office. Keep tagging other news organizations and ask them to cover this story. Keep reminding Sled that this will not go away. This troubling incident comes at a really bad time for the sheriff's office as a movement of Hilton Head residents demanding their own police force separate from the sheriff's office has grown quite a bit in the last few years. Hilton had is South Carolina's largest city without its own police force, and I think residents like myself are ready for a change, especially after this. If Sheriff Tanner actually cared about keeping

Starting point is 00:39:32 Hiltonhead safe and keeping the millions of dollars in funding to patrol Hiltonhead, he would start taking action now to hold Billy Squires accountable, even if he was his buddy. Our greatest weapon against the good old boys will always be the sunlight. We have to keep showing them. If you have tips for us on this case, please email info at lunasharkmedia.com. All right. So today we're going to give you a double feature of police corruption, because it's time to talk about the other police department that doesn't seem to understand they're not above the law or understand that they're not above even basic accountability to the public that pays them nice salaries with benefits to keep the communities safe.

Starting point is 00:40:20 That's right, ORI County Police Department. The agency that gets zero stars for how they respond to calls for service from women experiencing domestic violence, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault, but who get five out of five stars for their amazing customer service to North Myrtle Beach, businessman Weldon Boyd and his friend Bradley Williams after they shot and killed 33-year-old Scott Spivey on Camp Swamp Road and Laura South Carolina on September 9th, 2023, in what Weldon and Bradley say was self-defense, and what the evidence says was not self-defense. Over the past seven months, we have revealed so much about this agency and how they conducted their corrupt investigation into Scott's killing. And this is largely due to Scott's older sister, Jennifer

Starting point is 00:41:05 Spivey Foley, who fought really hard to get this case file, even though she should not have had to fight at all. Orie County had closed the case, which makes it public information. We've not only heard the calls when Weldon laughingly admitted that he had chased Scott and that Scott was terrified, when Weldon told his family and Bradley that he had a blast killing Scott. When Weldon got repeated reassurances from Deputy Chief of Police, Brandon Strickland, along with insider information about the investigation. When Weldon told Bradley to delete messages between the two of When Weldon lied time after time about the witnesses all supporting his story, we also saw video footage of two police officers on the scene trying to help Weldon.

Starting point is 00:41:44 One was Officer Damon Viscovy who wrote Act Like a Victim in his notebook and showed it to Weldon, also warning him about the body camera. He got canned. The other was Officer Kerry Higgs who kept instructing Weldon, a suspect at the time, to stop talking, even making the Universal Sign verse Zippet so that Weldon would know he was serious about shutting up. Officer Higgs was even kind enough to inform Weldon that staying quiet meant he'd be better able to keep his story straight about what happened with Scott on Camp Swamp Road. Like I said, five-star service for Weldon Boyd and Bradley Williams. There are so many things that the

Starting point is 00:42:21 Ory County Police did to help this investigation go in Weldon's favor. To this day, there continues to be missing evidence and questions like, why did all the officers shut off their body cameras at the scene around the same time, right before police allowed Weldon's attorney, Ken Moss, behind the yellow crime scene tape. One thing that is currently bugging us when it comes to the evidence is this phone call between Weldon and a friend of his that he saved in his phone as Brandon Ice Cream, because Brandon Ice Cream owns an ice cream shop in North Myrtle Beach. Hi.

Starting point is 00:42:54 What's up, buddy? So what you're hearing? Don't worry about that. No, I mean, I'm just curious. Not a whole lot, man. Like, I really have to talk to very many people out there. But, I mean, the biggest thing is, like, it is, I mean, it don't matter, man. I ain't here enough to everybody is saying that you're justified.

Starting point is 00:43:20 Like, he heard what person tell me different to that. The only thing that I'm here that I'm here that I always hit is that boy with that girl that you work up with or whatever. So, you know where is that right now? Where? She's in Maine. She's been in Maine for a week and a half and she still

Starting point is 00:43:39 ain't back yet. And they've already gone through all of her stuff. She's furious at me because she's got to come back and answer questions, but they've gone in all of her social media platforms and they've got his phone

Starting point is 00:43:53 and they've gone through all of his stuff. They aren't friends on any social media platform. They've never spoken to each other. They have his phone and they've gone through all of his stuff. Weird how this isn't documented anywhere in the case file.

Starting point is 00:44:12 There's no report on when the phone was downloaded nor by whom. There are no files with the contents of Scott's phone as there was for Weldon and Bradley after Sled downloaded theirs. After Jennifer and the Spivey's fought to have Weldon and Bradley's phone seized as evidence which took two months to do.

Starting point is 00:44:28 And there's not one shred of evidence in the case file that was given to Jennifer by Orie County Police showing that they searched Scott's phone and found no connection between him and Weldon's ex-fiancee, which you would think they would want to document as showing no motive. Why wouldn't they document this? Did they find something on Scott's phone that contradicts Weldon's story about Scott being the initiator of the road rage on Highway 9? It reminds me of the surveillance video from Boardwalk Billy's. Ory County Police appears to have only gotten the video of Scott's last hour and a half there. We don't see what he was doing before and we don't see him walking to his car.

Starting point is 00:45:06 Like we said before, is that because the footage would show Scott not appearing to be intoxicated as he left the facility? This is just a drop in the bucket of the inconsistencies and all too convenient incompetencies when it comes to this case. Remember, Chief Chris Leonhard had to hold a press conference to announce that they had found missing dash cam video a year after they had closed the case without charging Weldon or Bradley. Oh, and who can forget? Certainly not us. The time when Ori County police tried to take credit for finding the act like a victim note when it was our researcher Beth Braden who found it.

Starting point is 00:45:41 And it was Mandy and me who agreed to withhold the scoop until Slead could catch Vescovy off guard when he got back from his last paid vacation as a police officer. They're scoundrels. And this is no small thing. Ory County is an important county to South Carolina. It is the largest county in the state geographically. It has one of the fastest growing populations in the state, and it's an economic giant. It is also a hotspot for crime, especially of the systemic kind, which includes drug trafficking

Starting point is 00:46:09 and human trafficking, and the kinds of crimes that operate like underground, multi-level marketing companies with a power structure and investors. The kinds of crimes that can require favors from the top halls of power. The kind of crimes that can get a stranglehold on a local economy at the consumer. level, especially one that relies on a transient customer, i.e. tourists. Needless to say, this requires an ethical law enforcement agency that isn't afraid of transparency, one that understands its duty to the public and not to a small subset of off-brand fat cats. Here are two other unique things about Ori County. One, it refers to itself as the independent republic of Ori County,

Starting point is 00:46:49 literally. That's how they refer to themselves on the cover of their annual budget report from fiscal year 2025, which ended on June 30th, which, okay. And two, the county's police department is run by the county government, meaning its police chief answers to the county administrator who answers to the county council. It's the only police department in the state that is structured this way. The 45 other counties all have county-wide law enforcement as well, but they're run by sheriffs who are elected by the people. Orie County has that too, by the way. They have a sheriff, but the sheriff's office, with its $15 million budget this year is only responsible for providing security to the county government and justice center buildings, as well as the courthouse and magistrates office. They also

Starting point is 00:47:32 serve warrants, extradite criminals to the 15th Circuit, maintain the sex offender registry and issue non-farious metal permits. Meanwhile, the county budgeted $59 million for the ORE County Police Department this year, for the agency that is accountable to one person, the county administrator whose job relies on the fickle pleasure of 12 people, the county council, which is made up of 11 men and one woman. That's 92% male, 8% female, 100% white, and by appearance anyway. Sorry, if I'm wrong, about 84% above retirement age. The sheriff, by the way, is accountable to the 273,887 voters in Ori County. See how that's already different? Let me break it down for you some more. Of the two 273,887 voters in ORI County.

Starting point is 00:48:25 54% are women, 87% are white, and 60% are under the age of 65. The sheriff is elected by the people every four years on the same rotation as the president of the United States, which means there's a bigger turnout of voters to weigh in. And the chief of ORE County Police is appointed by a small group of local politicians, most of whom have no housing. household name recognition outside of their business networking branches. And that isn't great, in our opinion, and in a lot of ori-counting opinions, because it comes up a lot. Why don't we merge the sheriff's office and the police department? Why don't they? Because people don't like letting go of power.

Starting point is 00:49:09 Remember this call between Weldon and his mama the day after Weldon and Bradley killed Scott. Have you talked to Harold? No, I want you to, but I mean, I don't even. even know this fucking guy well and he was he was either drunk or something was wrong with me well how did how did why why is it being associated with my ex because that well then people love brothers people love to go with brothers because it makes people listen to me. That's just the highest-up problem with that because you got a rang in car.

Starting point is 00:49:58 I don't know. But that's just how crazy people are. It makes me look bad. That way does. Because it'll all, it's all going to come out. The least no true. It'll all wash out. All right, call Harold.

Starting point is 00:50:26 I'll call Harold and just kind of tell him kind of how you typed out to the employee behind. I mean, that's all we need to be saying to do. Just call Harold and tell them what happened. Okay, okay. Harold is Harold Worley, their landlord for Weldon's restaurant, Buoy's on the Boulevard. He was also a two-term state representative and was the longest serving member of Orie County Council, up until 2022, when he was defeated in the primary by Jenna Dukes, who is now the only woman on county council.

Starting point is 00:51:05 Weldon's mother likely wanted Weldon to talk to Harold for two reasons. One, because of their lease, which was just renewed, and two, because by telling Harold his narrative of what happened on Camp Swamp Road, Weldon would be be assured that someone of political influence had the so-called facts. Or the Weldon facts anyway, the wax. This is how good old boyism works, right? No big surprises there. Now, I need you to stick a big old pen in all of this until next week when we dive into the origin story of how the ORI County Police Department became one of the most corrupt

Starting point is 00:51:46 agencies in the state. We have so much more to share with y'all on South Carolina's bad cops in the agencies that protect them. Until then, stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight. True Sunlight is a Lunar Shark production created by me, Mandy Matney, co-hosted and reported by journalists, Liz Farrell. Research support provided by Beth Braden. Audio production support provided by Jamie Hoffman, case file management provided by Kate Thomas. Learn more about our mission and membership at LunaSharkmedia.com. Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky.

Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #118 - ‘Squires-Gate’ Children at Gunpoint: Teen Victims & the Sheriff’s Posse Gone Wild

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