No Arrests Made As Occupy Columbia Defies Gov. Haley's Protesting Limit

UPDATE: More than 200 Occupy Columbia protestors and supporters held signs and chanted on the Statehouse steps Monday night in defiance of Gov. Nikki Haley's 6 p.m. protesting curfew. 

Just before 7 p.m., the group received word that officers would not enforce the ban. No arrests were made. 

Virginia Sanders, an Occupy Columbia protestor and a member of the S.C. Progressive Network, was on the steps of the Statehouse with the group when she heard the news.

"I was happy because I thought to myself, 'They're finally coming to their senses,'" Sanders said.

Last week, after Haley told them they could only protest during daylight hours. The protestors stayed past 6 p.m., defying Haley's ban.

At first, Sanders expected a repeat of last week and more arrests Monday evening, she said. 

"But when I got out of my car and saw that so many people were here, I knew that we wouldn't get arrested," she said. 

People started gathering around 4 p.m. in preparation for a march to City Hall and the Columbia Police Department to thank Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin for refusing to assist in the arrests of protestors last week. 

The protestors returned from the march just before 6 p.m. with a letter from Benjamin saying that he was honored by their actions and supported their rights to protest. "I pledge to always stand in liberty's defense," Benjamin wrote in the letter.

The group read the letter several times leading up to 6 p.m. 

After the deadline passed, the group chanted "You can't arrest us all. It's 6 p.m. and we're still here!" 

Once the group received news that no one would be arrested, they planned for a general assembly meeting at 7 p.m. and encouraged people to stay. Some members of the group plan to sleep at the Statehouse Monday night, according to a post on their Facebook page.

"Just because things have calmed down doesn't mean we're done here," one protestor yelled. "We have a lot of work to do."

Original story, 5 p.m. Monday: A group of about 25 Occupy Columbia protestors are marching to Columbia City Hall and the Columbia Police Department to thank Mayor Steve Benjamin and the police for refusing to assist in the . 

The group plans to meet back at the Statehouse at 6 p.m. to protest Gov. Nikki Haley's ban on nighttime protesting.

Occupy Columbia protestor Johnta Jacobs, a freshman at Benedict College, said they'll stay on Statehouse grounds from 6 to 7 p.m. They will also be joined by members of the S.C. Progressive Network. More than 200 people have gathered there.

When the group gathered at 4 p.m. before the march, Jacobs was holding a sign that read "I'm here to make a citizen's arrest of Gov. Haley." 

Jacobs called Haley's order "unconstitutional." 

"You can't put a time limit on the First Amendment," he said.