Calls are growing on social media to boycott Shaun Kent, the lawyer who represented gas station owner Chikei Rick Chow in Columbia, South Carolina.
Chow was acquitted of fatally shooting 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back while fleeing Chow and his son, Andy, in 2023.
The Chows accused Cyrus of shoplifting 4 bottles of water, but surveillance video shows he put the bottles back in the cooler before leaving the store.
The Chows pursued Cyrus across a busy roadway and Rick Chow shot him in the back as he fled.
On June 2, a jury acquitted Chow of murder. One of his defense lawyers, Shaun Kent, faces threats and calls to boycott his law firm. Chow is Asian and Kent is African American.
Angry residents took to social media to call for a boycott.
One person wrote on X.com: “I know Shaun Kent he doesn’t need money so why is he defending a [racist] store owner who chased and shot a kid in the back. The kid didn’t even steal the water. All the [African American] lawyers in Columbia turned it down. They went all the way to Manning to find you bro. They hired you as a pawn smh. Shaun is a good lawyer but bro ain’t no way!!! We have to boycott his services.”
Another person circulated a video that shows Kent comparing a woman to an emu, one of the tallest species of non-flying birds.
The person captioned the video: “Attention everyone, this is the divine 9 boule democrat defense lawyer for that Chinese person rick chow case that was able to get him acquitted of murder. We have to boycott his law firm Shaun Kent of the Kent Law Firm in Manning, SC).”
Attention???everyone this is the divine 9 boule democrat defense lawyer for that Chinese person rick chow case that was able to get him acquitted of murder . We have to boycott his law firm Shaun Kent of the Kent Law Firm in Manning, SC). pic.twitter.com/1ZRXM7WgQZ
— THE BLACK VANGUARD SOLDIER ?? (@BlackVanguard7) June 3, 2026
A third person commented: “Meet Shaun Kent. A BLACK man. One of Rick Chows lawyers. This is one of the man who helped Rick chow go free. Mfs got no morals or integrity nor ethics. A 14 yr old kid is dead n u defended a man who wouldn’t done the same sh*t to your son.”
Meet Shaun Kent. A BLACK man. One of Rick Chows lawyers. This is one of the man who helped Rick chow go free.
Mfs got no morals or integrity nor ethics. A 14 yr old kid is dead n u defended a man who wouldn’t done the same shit to your son. pic.twitter.com/r7PpF1Tcbw— JustRashod (@AceBoogNG) June 2, 2026
Kent is a native of Summerville, South Carolina. He is one of the few African American attorneys in the state who owns his law firm. Kent, 51, opened his law office in Manning at age 37.
He told the Post and Courier that he loved working in a small town where people paid him with apple pies. He now charges $850 an hour.
Kent’s wife Xeniya, who is from Kazakhstan, is 14 years younger than her husband. She lives in their one-bedroom condo in downtown Charleston, where she works as an aesthetician. Kent lives in a home in Summerville’s Legend Oaks golf course community.
They spend the weekends at her condo, according to the Post and Courier.