Halls Chophouse employee fired gunshots when former NFL player was injured by protesters

A Halls Chophouse employee fired a handgun into the air during Saturday night protests in downtown Charleston when one of the patrons, a former Clemson and professional football player, was injured in an altercation with members of the crowd. 

The popular King Street restaurant was not spared from damage during the demonstration Saturday evening. Earlier in the day, hundreds of demonstrators marched through Charleston in peaceful protest to honor George Floyd, an African American man who died at the hands of police in Minnesota. By sundown, buildings caught on fire, windows were smashed and tensions escalated throughout the Holy City. 

Jim Stuckey, a Clemson All-American and defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets in the 1980s, was a patron at the restaurant on Saturday evening and was injured. The altercations in front of Hall’s Chophouse quickly spread on social media and three videos shared with The Post and Courier and half a dozen eyewitness statements have helped answer questions as to what occurred. 

As crowds began to form, an employee with the restaurant stepped outside, pointed a firearm and told protesters to back away from the establishment, an eyewitness who filmed the incident told the newspaper. Some members of the crowd began throwing things at the steakhouse after being shown the weapon.