1960s civil rights protesters who staged historic sit-in finally have arrest records cleared

Simon Bouie told his mother and grandmother he wasn't going to get in trouble back in 1960. Then the Black Benedict College student sat at a whites-only lunch counter in South Carolina and got himself arrested.

Finally on Friday, that arrest and the records of six of his friends were erased as a judge signed an order during a ceremony in a Columbia courthouse just a few blocks from where he sat at that segregated table some 64 years before.

Bouie remembered that promise as he went into the Eckerd Drug Store. He knew the governor at the time had warned African American college students not to get involved with "hot-headed agitators" and “confused lawyers” who were insisting all people were equal no matter the color of their skin.

“We had a desire to fight for what was right and nobody could turn us around. We walked in that building with our heads held high and sat down,” Bouie said.

Sitting down changed the world. Columbia wasn't where the first sit-in, an act of disobedience, happened. The movement started in Greensboro, North Carolina, and spread through the South in the early 1960s.

Several Southern cities have held similar expungement ceremonies in recent years as the young people who risked arrest and marring their record are now older men and women. U.S. Rep. and one-time House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn loved to tell the story of how he met his wife of nearly six decades, Emily, in jail after they were both arrested at a protest.

Back then, Black people would sometimes sit at an all-white lunch counter and refuse to leave. They were often arrested and then refused to pay bail. Jails became crowded. They were put on chain gangs. There was pressure to speak up and change the laws. And segregation was slowly, and sometimes violently, chipped away.

Only two of the seven men arrested over two days of protests in Columbia are still alive. On Friday, Bouie and Charles Barr both walked slowly around the Richland County courtroom with canes. The other five men — David Carter, Johnny Clark, Richard Counts, Milton Greene and Talmadge Neal — have since died, so were represented at another table at the front of the courtroom by white roses.

Barr remembered the fear that day riding in the back of a police car not sure if he was going to be taken to jail or somewhere else. He had heard stories. He left the state for a while because of the racial strife. But then he came back.

“It made me feel good we were a part of this movement that had helped to make everything easier for everyone to get along a little better in South Carolina,” Barr said.

University of South Carolina professor Bobby Donaldson spoke on behalf of the five men who died. He said they were true Americans, putting the importance of the Constitution and equality over their own freedom to ensure a better life for the next generation.

“In 1960 they were victimized. Today they are vindicated. In 1960 they were prosecuted. Today they are praised. In 1960 they were convicted. Today they are exonerated,” Donaldson said.

The arrests and convictions of the seven men went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices threw out their convictions just days before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law. But the arrests remained on their records.

Solicitor Byron Gipson handled the paperwork to investigate the arrests and get the expungement before a judge.

“These men stood bravely — sat bravely, quite frankly — in the face of adversity, in the face of threats, in the face of death," Gipson said. “They did it because they wanted to guarantee the Constitution applied to all Americans.”

Gipson then walked the paperwork up to Judge Robert Hood who signed it to applause from the packed courtroom of around 150 people.

“These heroes stood firm against oppression often at great personal cost. They dared to dream of a world where equality is not an aspiration, but a reality. Their unwavering commitment to justice serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration to us all," Hood said.

The arrests didn't keep the men from finishing college and leading successful lives. But Bouie said there was one place he was reminded of it.

“When I would get in trouble at home, my wife would say to me, ‘now you talk to me that way again, I’m going down to Richland County court. You have a case. And you're in big trouble. I don't want to hear another word,'" Bouie said to laughter. "That went on for 53 years.”

Charles Barr, foreground, speaks to Judge Robert Hood during a hearing where Barr's record was cleared after he was arrested in 1960 for sitting at an all-white South Carolina lunch counter on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Solicitor Byron Gipson, left, shows Simon Bouie. seated, where he will speak during a hearing where Bouie's record was cleared after he was arrested in 1960 for sitting at an all-white South Carolina lunch counter on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Solicitor Byron Gipson hands up papers clearing the records of seven men arrested in 1960 for sitting at an all-white South Carolina lunch counter to Judge Robert Hood on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

A white rose and a nameplace honor one of five men who died before their records could be cleared after they were arrested in 1960 for sitting at an all-white South Carolina lunch counter on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Simon Bouie meets well wishers after a hearing where his record was cleared after he was arrested in 1960 for sitting at an all-white South Carolina lunch counter on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Charles Barr waits for a hearing to begin where his record was cleared after he was arrested in 1960 for sitting at an all-white South Carolina lunch counter on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Simon Bouie waves to his family during a hearing where his record was cleared after he was arrested in 1960 for sitting at an all-white South Carolina lunch counter on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Charles Barr, left, and Simon Bouie, right, wait for a hearing to start where their records were cleared after they were arrested in 1960 for sitting at an all-white South Carolina lunch counter on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)