MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes criticized the man who streamed the Facebook Live video of a shooting on Ocean Boulevard, viewed millions of times on social media.
Mayor Rhodes made the comments during Thursday night’s mayoral debate, claiming the man who was filming the shooting didn’t do his job as a volunteer firefighter.
The man who shot the video, Bubba Hinson, lives in Kershaw County and was visiting Myrtle Beach the weekend of June 18 when a large mob of people walking down Ocean Boulevard began interrupting traffic. Hinson was streaming video on Facebook Live that showed individuals walking in front of cars and stopping traffic on Ocean Boulevard. Moments later, a fight broke out and one man pulled a gun, firing several rounds into the crowd.
Hinson says he had no idea he’d be a topic in the Myrtle Beach mayoral election, but that the video he shared sparked a conversation that needed to happen in the city.
It’s the shooting depicted in Hinson’s video that brought the Governor of South Carolina to Myrtle Beach, forced city leaders to address the need for more police officers, and brought changes for safety to Ocean Boulevard.
At least one mayoral candidate has said without that video, the city still wouldn’t talk about the violence.
“Y’all have all those cameras all over, and I haven’t seen one of those cameras ever show anything like what we saw the other night,” voiced candidate Mark McBride. “How many incidents have taken place that we don’t even know about?”
During Thursday’s mayoral debate, Mayor John Rhodes said it’s negative publicity that harms the city more than anything and criticized Hinson for shooting the video.
“The gentleman that took the film was a fireman that was here on a fireman’s convention,” stated Mayor Rhodes during Thursday’s debate. “He was a sworn officer that was supposed to respond to people that were troubled and injured. He was so busy taking the film, he never did what his job called him to do and that was to respond to injured people on the boulevard.”
Hinson says he started filming what he thought was dancing, it turned into fighting, and when shots were fired, he was in shock.
“As a volunteer fireman, I don’t carry a gun or a badge, and I’m not going to put myself in a situation to get in harm’s way – especially in an active shooter situation,” Hinson replies to Mayor Rhodes’ suggestion.
Hinson says he’s seen violence increase in the last several years he’s visited Myrtle Beach, and hopes his video leads to change.
“If the video helps and gets more police presence, like I say, I’m not saying go in there and cracking down on this and this and this and this, but I think a heavier police presence would help deter some of the criminals away,” expresses Hinson.
Hinson says as soon as he realized what was happening in the video, he did have his friend call 911 and talked with police afterward about what he saw.
News13 reached out to Mayor Rhodes multiple times Friday to see if he would talk about his comments made toward Hinson during the debate. The mayor did not respond.
