Bulletproof jackets and safety patrols. New details show depth of Beaufort council’s fears

Stephen Murray, the former mayor of Beaufort who abruptly resigned from office in September with little explanation, was so rattled by death threats in late 2021 that he at one point bought a bulletproof jacket.

That revelation, which came to light only recently in a Facebook Marketplace post, adds another layer to the turmoil that surrounded the popular former mayor’s time in office and shows how deeply the threats worried Murray and others on city council. Councilman Neil Lipsitz said he acquired a concealed weapons permit during this time, and other council members said Beaufort police conducted regular safety checks at their homes.

Murray, who has declined interview requests since his resignation, said he didn’t want to talk about the threats, saying it would be like “picking a scab.”

But in a Jan. 18 Facebook post offering the jacket for sale, Murray says he bought it “just in case” after receiving death threats. “Fortunately, I never had to test it out,” the post reads.

The “Bulletproof Everyone” jacket retails at $599, according to its manufacturer’s website. It’s unclear how often Murray wore the jacket but the sale listing describes it as “practically brand new.”

In September 2021, the council removed Helen Spalding from the nonpartisan Elections Commission, which was later disbanded, for organizing political rallies in Beaufort, including one that sought to “#FightBack” and audit the results of the 2020 presidential election in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.

Murray and council members were harassed in the weeks following from people around the country, with former City Manager Bill Prokop at the time calling the emails “all kinds of nasty.”

Murray would survive that drama only to resign this past September following endless legal battles and political attacks over the future of development in the city’s treasured 300-acre historic district.

The dispute reached a crescendo after the City Council voted 3-2 to strip a dedicated seat for the Historic Beaufort Foundation, a historic preservation group, from the city’s Historic District Review Board, which reviews building plans in the city’s historic district.

Shortly after that meeting, Murray and Cynthia Jenkins, who heads the Historic Beaufort Foundation, had an exchange while they were waiting at a traffic light on Lady’s Island. What was said is in dispute. Jenkins alleged Murray pulled up beside her and mocked her about the outcome of the meeting. Murray said their exchange was cordial and later asked Jenkins to publicly set the record straight.

Three days later, on Sept. 15, Murray blindsided colleagues by announcing his immediate resignation on Facebook, saying he was “tired of the daily barrage of uncivil and rude and people.”

‘Consider this a warning’

Lipsitz said council members received hundreds of emails following their vote on Sept. 15, 2021, to remove Spalding from the Elections Commission.

Lipsitz still has those emails. Writers used strong language to express disagreement with the council’s decision, arguing that Spalding’s 1st Amendment rights were violated. Not all of the emails threatened violence. But many of the messages contained decidedly menacing language.

For example, one says: “What y’all did to Helen makes you a bunch of soulless cowardly leeches and parasites. Return your salary and resign. P.S. You have been officially put on notice. ... The maximum penalty for treason and sedition is death. There will be an investigation. There will be audits. There will be military tribunals.”

“You will be held accountable mark my words,” says another email. “It’s in your best interest to fall in line and stop following communist orders. Consider this a warning. ... Removing Spalding is now the least of your concerns. Traitors. Treason. Sweet dreams.”

Police took two incident reports related to the threats against council members and chose to investigate one of them, Interim Chief Stephenie Price said.

In that case, police tried to get a search warrant for an IP address. The judge, however, denied the request because the threat — which was something along the lines of “I’m coming for you” — was not specific enough, Price said.

City Councilman Mike McFee recalled that time period as “very contentious,” to the point that the Police Department “was actually monitoring our houses and so forth during the time the threats were going on.”

“I know that the mayor was targeted specifically, even some references to his children and his family, and we all received a degree of threatening (messages),” McFee said.

Councilman Mitch Mitchell recalled that there was increased surveillance of council members’ homes. The situation was uncomfortable, he said, “but that’s what I signed up for.”

He didn’t recall any direct threats to him; his approach was to avoid reading too many of the emails. “I just kind of tuned it out,” he said.

Murray was sworn in as the city’s 39-year-old mayor on Dec. 8, 2020. By the time he resigned unexpectedly almost three years later, roughly a year shy of completing his four-year term, he was worn down.

“I’m tired of the daily barrage of uncivil and rude people accusing me of impropriety without a shred of proof,” Murray said in his resignation letter. “I’m tired of the ‘he said, she said’ drama that is present among many of the folks that I’m required to work with outside of Team Beaufort. I’m also tired of prioritizing my civic job at the expense of my health, my family, my friends, my businesses, and my reputation.”