Angry Grounsell Allies Plan City Hall Rally

Supporters of ousted Simpsonville Police Chief Keith Grounsell, plan a show of force in protest of his termination at the next Council meeting.

Organized by family members and friends, Grounsell's supporters are being asked to mass next Tuesday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall before the Council's 6:30 p.m. meeting. Supporters also said they hope to be able to speak before Council, which has so far declined any comment on the reason for terminating Grounsell.

As of Monday evening, at least 200 people had already indicated they planned to attend the rally.

Grounsell's supporters cannot fathom why he was fired, and the Council's refusal so far to explain their action has only served to anger supporters further. For their part, city officials have declined to discuss the firing because it is a personnel matter.

In addition to the planned rally, supporter David Tedrow of Greenville has also created an online petition demanding the Mayor and Council reinstate Grounsell.

Tedrow's petition states:

"I demand that you reinstate Kieth (sic) Grounsell as Chief of Police of Simpsonville, SC and that a complete investigation be made into the issues that were brought to your attention through Chief Grounsell.

The city has spent to (sic) many years covering up issues and I demand that it stops now.

You and the City Council were elected to represent the citizens of Simpsonville and not just your own interests!"

Tedrow also stated on the petition page: "The Mayor and the City Council of Simpsonville, SC have wrongfully fired Chief Kieth (sic) Grounsell. The city deserves the best police protection and have it be led by a moral and ethical person, that person being Kieth (sic) Grounsell. We believe as citizens and those that use the businesses in the city that we deserve the best leader for the Simpsonville Police Department and that leader is Kieth (sic) Grounsell."

"Obviously, it's nice to see the overwhelming support I'm getting from the community and beyond the community," Grounsell, a Mauldin native, told Patch in a voice mail.

"I think people are speaking their minds and it's nice to hear that. A definite injustice has taken place," Grounsell added. "I'd like to see some answers. I'd like some reasons. But I know they don't have any [real] reasons…. But the truth will come out eventually, and we'll get to the bottom of it."

Rob Chenoweth, a former law enforcement colleague of Grounsell's who created a special Facebook page to protest the firing, said, "it doesn't make any sense to me. There's got to be more to the story that we're not being told."

"The main goal here is for the wrongs to be made right," said Chenoweth, whose Facebook page has already gotten nearly 1,400 "likes' in just two days. "The City Council and the Mayor, they're supposed to be leaders and they're keeping people in the dark. To simply say that's just ridiculous. People are outraged over it."

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