Category: Georgia

Georgia: How’s ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ Working?

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Despite the fact that early voting has set historic records in Georgia, a certain Democrat remains permanently disgruntled:

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is claiming that “voter suppression” is occurring in Georgia despite record turnout in the Peach State.
During Friday’s installment of “CNN News Central,” co-anchor Kate Bolduan asked Abrams what she believes is driving the surge in early voting.
“While we are excited about who is showing up, we have to understand that turnout does not mean there is not voter suppression activity,” Abrams replied.
She suggested that one of the reasons for long early voting lines is because residents can no longer use the “easier” method of voting by mail.
“People who are disabled, people who have lost their homes are facing harder times casting their ballots, but they refuse to be silenced. What we are excited about is that here in the state of Georgia, despite the government making it harder to cast your ballot, people are willing to fight to make it happen anyway,” Abrams continued.
Senate Bill 202, which was adopted by the Georgia General assembly in 2021, made several changes to absentee ballots. Prior to its passage, signature verification was the primary means of checking voter identity, according to the Fulton County website.
Absentee ballots could also be requested up until the Friday before the election.
The new method stipulates that Georgia voters provide their Driver’s License number or other forms of voter ID and must request their ballot at least 11 days before the election.
“Once again, Stacey Abrams is lying about Georgia’s elections, and over three million voters who have already voted know not to take her seriously,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “She’s cost the state millions and it’s time for her to get real: Georgia has the leads the nation in voter accessibility and convenience and we run the most secure elections in the country.”
Georgia voters have already shattered multiple turnout records, but that did little to temper Democratic critics of the new rules for the 2024 presidential cycle put in place by the state’s GOP officials.
“I was just in Georgia. You know they passed a law that makes it illegal to give people food and water for standing in line to vote?” Vice President Kamala Harris told a rally crowd in Michigan earlier this week. “The hypocrisy abounds. Whatever happened to ‘love thy neighbor,’ right?”
Meanwhile, President Biden called Georgia’s election security laws “Jim Crow 2.0” in 2022.
Georgia’s Republican-majority legislature passed several laws since 2020 to increase security around the voting process after the Peach State was thrust under scrutiny in the previous presidential race.

As advocates of the new Georgia law have repeatedly said, it makes it easier to vote, but harder to cheat — and it’s that latter aspect of the law that Abrams and other Democrats deplore. There was massive “ballot harvesting” in Georgia in 2020, but they won’t be able to play that trick this year, which is one reason why Team Trump feels pretty confident about Georgia. Another factor that should help Trump in Georgia is the disgrace of Fani Willis, whose RICO case against Trump got wrecked in the courts. Let me put this as gently as possible — there’s Atlanta, and then there’s the rest of Georgia. Folks out in the hinterlands of Georgia don’t want anything to do with Atlanta, and Fani Willis is a perfect example of why people in the rest of Georgia despise Atlanta.

Polls close at 7 p.m. ET in Georgia, which means it will be an early indicator of which way this election is going. You can look at the county-by-county percentages from 2020 on Wikipedia and match them against what’s reported tonight, and from that county-by-county comparison figure whether Harris is under-performing Biden or not. Remember that Biden (allegedly) won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes, so even a slight shift in Trump’s direction would flip Georgia “red.” If Trump then holds onto North Carolina, all he would need is to win Pennsylvania and that’s it — 270 Electoral College votes, no matter what happens in Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona or Nevada. Furthermore, I think Mark Halperin is correct in saying that we’ll probably see the battleground states go one way or the other — it’s unlikely there will be a split decision.

A clear win for Trump in Georgia — say, 51%-47% or better — would be the first clue tonight that Kamala Harris is losing, and I think we should have a definite sense of that by 10 p.m. ET. Say a prayer.



 

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Do Taxpayers in Madison, Wisconsin, Want Schools to Celebrate a Killer?

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Sumter County is in south Georgia, north of Albany and west of Cordele. The county seat is Americus, but arguably the most famous town in Sumter County is Plains, from which hometown a certain peanut farmer grew up to be President of the United States. The county is largely rural, with a population of less than 30,000, more than half of whom live in Americus. About five miles southeast of downtown Americus, Lamar Road runs from District Line Road down toward Lake Blackshear, a distance of about 14 miles. It was past 9 o’clock on the night of October 28, 2011, when a motorist driving along Lamar Road saw something that he first believed to be a dead deer in the road, but which turned out to be a naked human body. A 911 call brought sheriff’s deputies and other authorities to the scene, where it was discovered that the deceased “John Doe” was a Hispanic male, who had been shot to death. Soon, authorities were able to identify the vehicle that dumped the body there:

“We had several eyewitnesses who were able to give us a description of the vehicle,” [Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Trebor] Randle said.
“The person or persons who were responsible for this were supposed to be in an older model Grand Marquis,” said [Sumter County Sheriff Pete] Smith.
Just a few miles away from the crime scene a tan, 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis proved valuable in the case. Spotted in the Lexington Circle Mobile Home Park, evidence like a bloody blanket in which the body was apparently wrapped was discovered inside. . . .
Investigators served a warrant on a Lexington mobile home. It was here where agents say the John Doe victim was shot in the torso. His suspected killers — young siblings.

Kenyota Maria Peterson, 20, was charged with murder, as were her two younger brothers, Adam Peterson, 14, and Clarence Coleman, 16 — both juveniles charged as adults. The victim was identified as Samuel Chavez, 29, a native of Honduras whose immigration status was unclear. Eventually, Kenyota Peterson accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to prison on a manslaughter charge, but I never would have heard of this case had it not been for Chaya Raichik’s LibsOfTikTok account posting those photos reportedly taken inside a school in Madison, Wisconsin. That weird jargon about “heteronormative thinking” and a “queer affirming network” led me to click on the picture and zoom in.

 

Who is Ky Peterson? Seeing this name, my first thought was that Ky Peterson might be an academic, a college professor of Gender Studies perhaps, who had furnished this quote about “heteronomative thinking.” But then I started Googling and discovered that Ky Peterson was, for a few years, a cause célèbre in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Kenyota Peterson, the woman convicted of killing Samuel Chavez, now identified as a man and was, according to activists, a victim of injustice, who had wrongly been sent to prison for shooting her (or “his”) rapist.

Peterson was released from custody in 2020, and has since disappeared from the headlines, but it took a good bit of research on my part to uncover the truth about this case, because most of what turns up in a Google search for “Ky Peterson” is just a rather deceptive boilerplate summary of claims by activists:

We demand justice for Ky Peterson, a Black transgender man incarcerated in Georgia for defending himself against transphobic sexual violence. We call upon Governor Nathan Deal and the State Board of Pardons & Paroles to pardon and release Ky Peterson now!
Ky Peterson grew up in a small South Georgia farming town. Though Ky struggled for acceptance as a transgender man, he had the love of his family. Ky worked hard to support his mom and three younger siblings and volunteered at an assisted living home and the American Red Cross in his free time.
On October 28, 2011, the life that Ky Peterson knew came to an end. Ky and his younger brothers walked to a neighborhood convenience store. After making his purchase, he waited outside for them. Ky was approached by a man who made sexual advances toward him. When Ky asked the man to leave him alone, the man uttered derogatory insults as he drove away. Ky told his brothers that he was walking home first, leaving them to follow. As he passed an abandoned trailer, the same man who had approached Ky earlier attacked him from behind. He dragged Ky into the abandoned trailer and sexually assaulted him. Ky fought back in self-defense, which ultimately led to his attacker’s death.

Oh, really? That 2018 petition repeats a version of events told by the accused murderer, and the claim that Peterson was “forced” to accept a plea bargain is self-evidently false. Peterson was free to take her (or “his”) chances with a jury trial, but in view of the possibility of life in prison if convicted, made what seemed to her (or “him”) the smart move. And while many “activist” types might second-guess that choice, I fail to see how it constitutes an “injustice.” Also, notice the assertion that Peterson was the victim of “transphobic sexual violence” despite the absence of any evidence that Samuel Chavez knew anything about Peterson being transgender. And guess what? Basically every convicted murderer in prison claims to be innocent, so this tale told by Ky Peterson ought to be considered skeptically. Beyond that, however, can somebody please explain to me why Ky Peterson is featured on this poster displayed in a Wisconsin public school? It makes no sense at all.

How did this convicted killer gain heroic status? It can be traced to a 2015 article in The Advocate with the headline, “This Black Trans Man Is in Prison for Killing His Rapist,” which assumes as its core truth a controversial claim about a man who, of course, is not able to tell his side of the story — because Ky Peterson killed him. The article dramatizes Peterson’s version of what happened, even while it discloses (way down in the story, if you read carefully) some inconvenient facts about the case.

First, neither Peterson nor her juvenile brothers were strangers to the criminal justice system. The 14-year-old “was already well-known by local law enforcement after numerous violent outbursts at school landed him in juvenile detention, where he allegedly assaulted a correctional officer,” while the 16-year-old was, at the time of Samuel Chavez’s death, wearing an ankle monitor while on home detention because of a prior burglary conviction. Ky Peterson herself had a prior criminal history dating back to her own juvenile years, and as an adult had faced charges of probation violation in 2008, disorderly conduct in 2008 and 2010, and civil contempt in August 2011. This is the person we’re told volunteered with the Red Cross and an assisted living home, OK?

Second, while the article repeats Peterson’s claim of being the victim of a surprise attack by Chavez — she was walking home through the trailer park, she says, when she was knocked unconscious — her own brothers told quite a different story: “Peterson’s brothers told investigators that the entire incident was a scheme of Peterson’s design; that Peterson asked them to help [her] rob the stranger after Peterson lured him in with a promise of sex.” As Lt. Joe Kenda might say, “Well, well, well!”

Third — and this is important — Samuel Chavez was drunk. His sister lived in the same trailer park as Peterson’s family, just off U.S. 280 southeast of Americus. Apparently, Chavez had gone to his sister’s trailer, but she wasn’t there. He “consumed several alcoholic beverages” while awaiting her return, then told family members that he was going to the nearby convenience store. It was there Chavez encountered Peterson.

Get N Go Foodmart on U.S. 280

After his body was discovered, an autopsy found that Samuel Chavez had a blood-alcohol content of 0.165 — twice the legal limit for a drunk-driving charge. Chavez was seriously impaired, staggering drunk, and exactly what happened between him and Peterson after the encounter at the store cannot be determined. However, a rape exam was performed on Peterson, and it is reported that Peterson’s DNA was found on Chavez’s penis, but this must be weighed in the context of what her brothers told investigators, i.e., that there was a scheme to lure Chavez with an offer of sex in order to rob him at gunpoint. Peterson has told her (or “his”) version of the story, but dead men tell no tales, so we don’t have Chavez’s version of events. While it’s possible a jury might have found enough reasonable doubt to render a verdict of acquittal, Peterson’s acceptance of a plea deal was her choice. Strip away all the drama about “transphobic sexual violence,” and what you find in The Advocate article (please, read the whole thing) is that perhaps the public defender assigned to Peterson’s case didn’t do a very good job, and there was apparently some confusion about what charge Peterson pleaded guilty to — was it voluntary or involuntary manslaughter? She seems to have thought she was pleading to involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, but was instead sentenced to 20 years, which is the maximum for voluntary manslaughter. Whatever the case, however, she was ultimately released after a total of less than nine years behind bars, so what’s the difference at this point? Case closed.

The only real mystery is why Ky Peterson is showing up as a cartoon character on “queer affirming” posters in a Wisconsin public school.

Samuel Chavez could not be reached for comment.



 

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Mystified Why Trump Keeps Criticizing Georgia Republicans? Here’s the Answer

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Was the 2020 election stolen? That’s a yes or no question.

Were I called to testify under oath, I’d have to answer yes.

I’ve talked to friends in Georgia who tell stories of “ballot harvesting” there, and this is completely apart from the arguably unconstitutional rule change that allowed universal vote-by-mail in my native state. (The Constitution gives state legislatures the authority to establish election procedures. The Georgia legislature never changed the law; instead, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger implemented universal vote-by-mail on his own authority, without legislative approval.) We know for a fact that Mark Zuckerberg poured millions into Georgia election activism, specifically in the metro Atlanta area — Clayton, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton and Gwinnett counties — and every Republican who watched the way the official results were reported on Election Night said, “Shenanigans!”

So, yes, I sincerely believe Democrats stole the 2020 election, but that doesn’t make me a “conspiracy theorist,” because I don’t claim to have any detailed proof of how Democrats stole the election. There are people who do make such claims, however, and I have neither the time nor interest to investigate their claims. The media is quick to label any such claim as having been “debunked,” and I don’t care to investigate the alleged “debunking,” either, since it’s neither here nor there in terms of my own general belief about Democratic shenanigans in 2020.

While I have the luxury of being agnostic toward any specific detailed claims regarding 2020 election fraud, others are less fortunate. You see, the whole “J6 insurrection” controversy, including the federal prosecution of Capitol riot participants, as well as legal proceedings against Trump and his allies, are premised on two basic propositions: (a) that the 2020 election was entirely legitimate, and (b) that no reasonable person could believe otherwise. Whereas Trump’s supporters claim they were victims of a political crime, the prosecution of Trump’s supporters portrays them as perpetrators of such a crime, and it is crucial to the defense of anyone so accused to establish that they were acting on a sincere belief that the 2020 election was stolen.

All of this is necessary to understanding why, in his Atlanta rally Saturday, “Trump assailed [Gov. Brian] Kemp in a roughly 10-minute tirade,” as the Associated Press described it. Kemp denies that there is any reason to doubt Joe Biden won Georgia four years ago, and in doing so, effectively sides with Fani Willis in her argument that Trump and his allies were guilty of a crime in trying to prevent certification of that alleged Democratic victory. Some of my conservative friends are perplexed by Trump’s public criticisms of Kemp (and Raffensperger), and certainly it can be argued that airing such intra-party conflicts in the late stages of a crucial election campaign is, uh . . . less than optimal, strategically speaking. (I’m sure my friend Dianna Deeley in Valdosta can speak of less-than-optimal intra-party conflicts locally.)

Those of us who can afford to be agnostic about the specifics of election fraud in 2020 may be tempted to cast aspersions on those who are not so fortunately situated: Why are they so obsessed with this topic? Well, if a prosecutor was trying to put you in prison, you might be “obsessed,” too. And it’s not just Trump. His former spokeswoman and longtime “War Room” contributor Liz Harrington called attention to the ongoing battle between Trump’s supporters and the Georgia Election Board.

You can read the entire complaint, alleging “under the penalty of perjury that the evidence and records are conclusive — Fulton County’s 2020 General Election Recount was intentionally and fraudulently manipulated.” As I say, I don’t have any interest in such details — my eyes glaze over — but then again, no one is trying to put me in prison for my beliefs about election shenanigans. At least not yet, but if Democrats steal the next election, too, maybe we’ll all get locked up. Then we’ll have plenty of time, sitting in jail awaiting trial, to be “obsessed” about it.



 

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Dumbest Car Thief Ever?

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Say hello to 29-year-old Charles Millsaps, who had the brilliant idea to (a) steal a 1992 Honda Accord, and then (b) try to outrun the Georgia State Patrol in aforesaid vehicle, with the result that (c) he got locked up in the Chatham County Jail — and never mind the fact that (d) he was already wanted on warrants in South Carolina. The reason I bring this felon to your attention is because I so rarely encounter a white car thief in my coverage of crime. Now, meet the trooper who made the arrest:

Trooper Tyler Byrd has an admirable resumé. He worked his way through college as a manager at Kroger while also serving in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. While attending Georgia Southern University, Byrd did two internships, one in the office of U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter and another with the U.S. Marshall’s Service. After getting his bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2019, Byrd worked two years as a police officer in Chatham County before becoming a State Trooper in January 2022.

Now read his report of this February 2023 arrest:

On 2/2/2023 at 1104 hours, I was stationary on Interstate 95 south Mile Marker 109. The LPR cameras notified me that a stolen vehicle had hit on the Interstate 95 south Mile Marker 111 as vehicle entered Georgia from South Carolina. The vehicle was described as a 1992 white Honda Accord with a North Carolina tag RAW3837. I looked in my rearview mirror and observed the vehicle in the number three lane. As the vehicle was getting ready to pass me, the vehicle quickly got on the off-ramp onto State Highway 21. I activated my emergency lights and siren for the vehicle to stop. The vehicle stopped on State Highway 21 near Interstate 95; as I opened the driver’s door of my patrol car, the violator immediately took off, initiating a pursuit. I notified Troop F Communications that I was in an active pursuit.
The vehicle drove across all northbound lanes of State Highway 21 and made an improper U-turn at a no U-Turn median, cutting off multiple vehicles going southbound on State Highway 21. As we were south on State Highway 21, the violator drove across multiple lanes of traffic, drove between two cars, and recklessly began to drive through the grass to bypass traffic and get onto the on-ramp to Interstate 95 south. Before the subject could get back onto Interstate 95 and drive recklessly around several other vehicles or get into the city limits of Savannah, I determined that the vehicle must be stopped immediately to safeguard life and preserve public safety. I attempted the PIT maneuver but was unsuccessful. I attempted a second PIT maneuver as we were getting onto Interstate 95; the violator was able to drive out of it. As the vehicle recovered from the second PIT, I utilized the front of my push bumper to make contact with the driver’s side of the violator’s vehicle, causing the vehicle to become disabled.
I exited my patrol vehicle, drew and aimed my department-issued pistol at the driver, and told him to keep his hands up. TPR Gurganus arrived on the scene and drew his department-issued pistol. I went to the passenger side, handcuffed the driver, and had him exit the vehicle. The violator was later identified as Mr. Charles Millsaps by his Florida identification. I searched the driver before placing him in my back seat.
I read him his Miranda Rights and asked him if he understood them and would be willing to speak with me. He said he didn’t know what to say. I asked him if he knew the vehicle was stolen, and he said he didn’t think the owner would call and report it. I observed his speech was sometimes mumbled, and I smelled the odor of marijuana coming off his person and observed his pupils were dilated. I asked him when was the last time he used it, and he said he smoked marijuana 10 to 15 minutes before the chase; I had him stick his tongue out and observed his taste buds were raised. Field sobriety was not conducted because he was handcuffed and risk of fleeing; I told him he would be
charged with DUI. I read him Georgia’s Implied Consent Notice for Suspect Age 21 or over for blood off my green card, and he agreed.
I ran Mr. Millsaps’s identification through NCIC, and it was determined he had a parole warrant out of South Carolina that was confirmed and validated. Mr. Millsaps’s license was also suspended. I transported him to Memorial Hospital to be cleared; he had complaints of a knee injury but was cleared by the nurse and doctor staff. Chatham EMS Captain Samantha Cavicchia met me at Memorial and conducted the blood draw at 1226 hours. After being cleared, Mr. Millsaps was taken to CCDC, where he was turned over to the jail staff for processing.
Cpl. Williams responded and worked the crashes. TPR. Gurganus conducted a vehicle search. Sapp’s Wrecker took possession of the vehicle, which was confirmed stolen. This incident was digitally recorded on the GSP439-Watchguard-4RE camera.

Having read dozens of police reports, I’d say Trooper Byrd’s report of this incident is equal or superior to any such report I’ve ever read, in terms of clarity and syntax — which I suppose might be expected of a university graduate. Watch the video:

 

When I got my first look at the suspect (1:40), my reaction was like, “Damn — a white car thief!” You just don’t see that very often, and I’ve watched hundreds of police videos like this. But then when Trooper Byrd appeared on camera (2:11), I was laughing out loud. How perfect is this?

Anyway, don’t steal cars, but if you do, don’t steal a 30-year-old Honda and then expect to out-run the Georgia State Patrol, because we’re all going to be laughing at the video of the PIT maneuver, dummy.



 

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Aspiring Rapper Update

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Tyquian Terrel Bowman, a/k/a “Quando Rondo”

Has it really been five months since we last did one of these? Please excuse my negligence and, since it’s been a while, permit me to remind you of the categorical definition:

Aspiring Rapper
North American euphemism for a member of the urban criminal class. This unusual occupation is usually mentioned in conjunction with the subject either being slain or being taken into custody for a violent or property-related crime. A relative of the subject usually points out that the subject’s demise or incarceration comes at an extremely inopportune moment, occurring just as the subject was “turning they(sic) life around.”

It was in November 2020 that the name “Quando Rondo” appeared here, in connection with the arrest of Timothy “Lil Tim” Leeks, who was charged in the murder of rapper Dayvon Bennett, a/k/a “King Von,” outside a club in Atlanta. Leeks is from Savannah, which is also the hometown of Tyquian “Quando Rondo” Bowman, and police said they were known associates. In September 2021, while the murder charges in the Atlanta case were still pending, and Leeks was out on $100,000 bond, he got arrested in Savannah:

Timothy Leeks, the suspect charged with the murder of Chicago rapper King Von in early Nov. 2020 in Atlanta, was arrested in Savannah on Sept. 21 for 13 separate traffic violations, including reckless driving and fleeing police.
According to an open records request, those charges also include obstructing or hindering law enforcement officers, two charges of speeding in excess of maximum limits, failure to maintain lane, improper turn/lane change, driving on the wrong side of roadway, failure to obey traffic control devices, failure to yield while turning left, failure to stop at a stop sign, following too closely, and passing in a no-passing zone.
Officer Damascus Chambers of the Georgia State Patrol arrested Leeks at the intersection of Derenne Avenue, Abercorn Street and Waters Avenue, according to the same open records request.

Last August, prosecutors in Fulton County — you know, the same prosecutors who want to send Donald Trump to prison for racketeering? — dropped the murder charges against Leeks. Although there was no official explanation for dropping the charges, it has been widely speculated that it was because they could not disprove Leeks’ claim that he acted in self-defense. When rival rap crews get into an altercation outside a nightclub, it’s fair to assume that everybody is packing heat, which makes it difficult to prove a murder charge, because anyone you charge can claim self-defense. So “King Von” is still dead, and nobody’s going to prison for it. Meanwhile, in Savannah . . .

A Savannah rapper was taken into custody Friday night [December 8, 2023] by the FBI.
Quando Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was arrested after being served a warrant, the Savannah Police Department confirmed to News 3.
Arrest records list the charge as a federal custody hold.
SPD said Bowman was a passenger in a car that was pulled over around midnight on Friday.
The arrest comes nearly six months after Bowman was indicted on four felony charges, including violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Bowman also has a previous non-violent felony conviction on his record from 2017.

Let’s quote the federal prosecutor’s announcement:

Multiple defendants have been charged in a partially unsealed 14-count federal indictment alleging their involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy in the Savannah area. The indictment follows a prior related indictment in which two individuals also are charged in a violent carjacking.
The indictment in USA v. Grant et al. alleges that the defendants conspired starting at least as early as January 2021 to possess and distribute illegal drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. A conviction on the conspiracy charge carries a statutory sentence of up to 20 years in prison, along with substantial fines and penalties, followed by a period of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“As our law enforcement partners continue to identify, infiltrate and disrupt drug trafficking operations threatening the safety of our community, we remain dedicated to complementing their efforts by holding accountable those involved in these criminal enterprises,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg.
The indictment charges all of the defendants with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Fentanyl, and Marijuana. Three defendants still are being sought.
Those named in the partially unsealed indictment include:

• Tremaine Grant, a/k/a “Trench,” 24, of Savannah;
• Laron Thompson, a/k/a “Hollywood,” 38, of Savannah;
• Tyquian Bowman, a/k/a “Quando Rondo,” 24, of Savannah;
• Donald Davis, a/k/a “Lil’ D,” 29, of Savannah;
• Ty’Sean Davis, a/k/a “Stro,” 21, of Savannah;
• Jarrell Palmer, a/k/a “Rel,” 36, of Pooler, Ga.

Thompson and Grant also face drug distribution charges. Grant and Palmer are charged with Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery, and Grant and Thompson face firearms charges.
The indictment provides notice of forfeiture of seven seized handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition.
Two additional defendants — Robert Moss, a/k/a “Fat Boy,” 32, and Brandon McCall Williams, a/k/a “Lil’ B,” a/k/a “Dough Boy,” 32, both of Savannah — were already arraigned in connection with a partially unsealed indictment charging them in a related drug-trafficking conspiracy and alleging their involvement in a Sept. 2021 Savannah carjacking in which the victim was shot and wounded. An additional defendant is still being sought.

Seems kind of serious. Not to change the subject, but did you hear about the mass shooting last month in Savannah?

An argument between two women led to a gunfight that left 11 people hurt in a busy tourist area of Savannah, Georgia, late Saturday [May 18], one of five weekend shootings in the city, two of which were fatal, authorities said.
Two people were injured in separate shootings Friday. Two more shootings Saturday resulted in two deaths. Then came the gunfire just before midnight Saturday near Savannah’s Ellis Square.
The shooting broke out as two women argued in an area business, according to Police Chief Lenny Gunther, who didn’t name the establishment.
“One shot rang out. That triggered other individuals to shoot,” he said. “We had multiple individuals discharge their weapons to shoot at each other, which resulted in multiple people getting shot.”
Ten of the 11 injured were hit by gunfire. Authorities did not say what caused the 11th injury.

With all the media obsession with “gun violence,” you would think this incident might have gotten coverage nationwide, but it appears to have been treated as strictly local news, for some reason.

Seven suspects have been charged in connection to the Ellis Square mass shooting, and I dare say none of them are Trump voters. And just in case you’re wondering why I’m mentioning this now:

Court filing sheds light on Quando Rondo gang affiliation
Tyquian Bowman, otherwise known as Savannah-based rapper Quando Rondo, is facing charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of controlled substances.
The latest court filing in the case reveals U.S. attorneys are calling witnesses to testify on Bowman’s alleged gang affiliations in Savannah.
Some of the local groups mentioned in the court filing are Only the Mob, Jumpout Gang and Family Over Everything.
Federal prosecutors say Bowman had ties to two of those groups and several others.
From this time last year until now, the city of Savannah has seen about a 16 percent increase in drug-related crimes.
“Most of our gang activity has been related to drugs, not necessarily violence,” said Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
However, there have also been 12 more homicides than this time in 2023. . . .
Johnson did acknowledge several suspects arrested in connection to the Ellis Square mass shooting last month are convicted felons, raising questions about whether any of them have gang affiliations.

“King Von” could not be reached for comment.



 

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Joe Biden’s Policy Gets a College Girl Killed, But White Lives Don’t Matter

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Since Joe Biden took office, millions of illegal aliens have been released into the United States. This is not an accident. This is Biden’s policy. Americans are literally being killed by this policy:

A Venezuelan illegal immigrant has been arrested and charged for the murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student who was found dead in a wooded area of University of Georgia at Athens (UGA) campus on Thursday.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, was arrested and booked into Clarke County Jail for the accused murder of Laken Riley and charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, and other criminal violations including kidnapping, according to the Daily Mail.
Ibarra was released into the interior of the US by Customs and Border Patrol because the border crisis had worsened to a point where they did not have enough space at a detention facility to hold him.
Riley, 22, was found dead in the wooded area of campus after a roommate reported her as missing. UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark told reporters that this was possibly a “crime of opportunity.”
“He did not know her at all. I think this is a crime of opportunity where he saw an individual and bad things happened,” Clark said. . . .
Evidence consistent with blunt force trauma is what led to her death, according to police.
This is the first homicide that has been reported on the campus in 30 years, according to Clark.
The news of the murder broke amidst reports that there have been at least 7.2 million illegal immigrants crossing into the US since President Joe Biden took office not counting those immigrants who have gone undetected while crossing into the US.

Democrats voted for Biden’s open-borders policy. Democrats voted for the murder of Laken Riley. Do not let the media deceive you.



 

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Big Trouble for Fulton County D.A.

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If anyone in the Atlanta area saw a mushroom cloud Monday, don’t be alarmed. It was just the RICO case against Trump exploding:

District Attorney Fani Willis improperly hired an alleged romantic partner to prosecute Donald Trump and financially benefited from their relationship, according to a court motion filed Monday which argued the criminal charges in the case were unconstitutional.
The bombshell public filing alleged that special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a private attorney, paid for lavish vacations he took with Willis using the Fulton County funds his law firm received. County records show that Wade, who has played a prominent role in the election interference case, has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees since January 2022. The DA authorizes his compensation.
The motion, filed on behalf of defendant Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign official, seeks to have the charges against Roman dismissed and for Willis, Wade and the entire DA’s office to be disqualified from further prosecution of the case. . . .
Roman’s lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, said she reviewed the case file in Wade’s ongoing divorce proceedings at the Superior Court Clerk’s Office and made copies of certain documents. But the case file was later improperly sealed because no court hearing was held as required by law, the motion said. . . .
The filing alleges that Willis and Wade have been involved in a romantic relationship that began before Wade was appointed special prosecutor. It says they traveled together to Napa Valley and Florida, and they cruised the Caribbean together using tickets Wade purchased from Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise lines — although the filing did not include documentation of those purchases.
The motion said the checks sent to Wade from Fulton County and his subsequent purchase of vacations for Willis could amount to honest services fraud, a federal crime in which a vendor gives kickbacks to an employer. It is also possible this could be prosecuted under the federal racketeering statute, the motion said. . . .
Willis and Wade, the motion contends, “have been engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case, which has resulted in the special prosecutor, and, in turn, the district attorney, profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers.”
A problem with Wade’s appointment is that it was not approved by the Fulton board of commissioners as required by law, the motion said. The motion also questions Wade’s credentials, contending he has never prosecuted a felony case. . . .
Wade entered into his special prosecutor contract on Nov. 1, 2021, just one day before he filed for divorce in Cobb County, the motion said.

Do you remember the media hype around this Atlanta grand jury indictment? Do you remember how excited liberals were that a BLACK WOMAN was going to be prosecuting Trump? Oh, symbolic justice!

Sensible people, including attorneys of vast experience, looked at this case and saw a lot of obvious problems. Like, RICO? Are you kidding me with this? A presidential campaign trying to win a disputed election result is racketeering? All of these common-sense objections to the Fulton County case were ignored by the national media who were certain — as they had often claimed before — that this time, the “walls were closing in” on Trump. Because a BLACK WOMAN was prosecuting him!

Well, that’s really working out great for them, huh? Not only is this revelation about Willis and Wade’s “improper relationship” likely to cause the RICO prosecution to be abandoned, but it bids fair to get Willis driven out of office, disbarred and perhaps even sent to federal prison.

Has irony ever been more delicious?



 

The Preventable Death of Khaliyah Jones

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Khaliyah Jones (left); Cameron Hopkins (right)

A year ago — July 16, 2022 — Khaliyah Jones was kidnapped:

Two people are in custody following a kidnapping at the Lovejoy Walmart Saturday, July 16.
Khaliyah Jones, 18, was allegedly taken from the store’s parking lot by her ex-boyfriend Cameron Hopkins, 19.
Witnesses told police Hopkins broke a window of a vehicle Jones was in with a handgun, pulled her from the car and forced her into his vehicle and then fled.
Later, Hopkins left his vehicle and called Demarco Jennings to pick him up. When Jennings arrived Hopkins allegedly forced Jones in the car and they began traveling to Albany.
Police said Jones was able to escape the car and ran to a nearby business for help while providing police the location the two were heading to.
With the help of the Albany Police Department and information from Jones, both Hopkins and Jennings were arrested and returned to Clayton County where they remain in jail. . . .
Hopkins is charged with making terroristic threats, kidnapping, criminal damage and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. For his part, Jennings is facing kidnapping charges.

This was obviously a very serious crime, and Khaliyah Jones was fortunate to escape. What happened a year later has provoked outrage:

A man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend was out on bond at the time of the alleged crime after the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office missed a crucial administrative deadline, court records and District Attorney Tasha Mosley confirm.
Cameron Hopkins faces malice murder and other charges after allegedly abducting and fatally shooting his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend, Khaliyah Jones, on July 16.
At the time, court records show that the 20-year-old Hopkins was out on bond for similar charges from one year earlier. On July 16, 2022, arrest warrants allege he abducted Khaliyah from a Lovejoy Walmart at gunpoint. In the warrant application, the investigator wrote: “After kidnapping the victim… Cameron Hopkins was contacted via phone at which time he said if the police attempts[sic] to pull him over as he flees with the victim that he will shoot and kill her.”
Khaliyah’s family is now left wondering how Hopkins was ever released on bond.
“Why? Why was he let out?” asked Khaliyah’s mother, Bridgette Jones.
An error made by prosecutors may be responsible.
Under current Georgia law, a felony defendant cannot be held in jail without bond for more than 90 days after their arrest without an indictment. If prosecutors do not obtain an indictment within that 90 day timeline, a judge is typically required to grant the defendant bond — regardless of the charges.
“You’re on the clock,” said Danny Porter, who served as Gwinnett County’s district attorney for decades before leaving office in 2020.
“DA’s offices have to have some kind of a system,” he said. “You have to track these.”
Clayton County prosecutors did not obtain an indictment until March 2023 — more than seven months after Hopkins’ July 2022 arrest, according to court documents obtained by 11Alive.
Court records show that a magistrate court judge initially denied Hopkins bond on his July 2022 kidnapping and related charges, but after more than 90 days passed without an indictment, a superior court judge reversed course in October 2022 and granted bond.
In a phone interview, Clayton County District Attorney Mosley said “we did miss the 90-day time period to indict.” She called the oversight “a mistake.”
“My child is dead because of a ‘mistake’?” asked Bridgette Jones. “I do not accept that.”
According to the October 2022 Clayton County Superior Court bond order granted after prosecutors missed their 90-day deadline, Hopkins was ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor, stay out of Clayton County except for court dates or attorney meetings, and stay away from Khaliyah Jones — in addition to meeting a $150,000 bond.
“We did everything that we could with the bond conditions to ensure that she was as safe as we possibly could,” District Attorney Mosley said.
While out on bond from those 2022 charges, law enforcement says Hopkins abducted Jones once again. This time, they allege, he led law enforcement on a high speed chase that ended at Lovejoy High School. Police say he fatally shot Khaliyah in the school driveway.
It’s the same school where, one year earlier, she received her diploma.
“In my eyes, the police did their job. They caught the criminal,” Bridgette Jones said. “But between the prosecutor and the courts, y’all failed.”
Hopkins has pleaded not guilty to all of his 2022 charges, according to his attorney Steve Frey. He has not yet had an opportunity to enter a formal plea for his 2023 charges, according to Frey.
District Attorney Mosley says that her office has changed its procedures in an effort to prevent an oversight like this from happening again. They’ve implemented changes in the ways they interact with magistrate court, including “a shared email just going to… the top command so that we get those cases and start working on them quicker,” she told 11Alive.
Bridgette Jones says those changes came too late for her daughter.
“We lost a great human that was going to help a lot of people,” she said. “Khaliyah just wanted to help people.”

Before we get to the matter of the prosecutor’s error that led to this murder, let me ask something: Who posted bail for Cameron Hopkins?

Last time I checked, bail bondsmen required 10% of the bond amount to be paid in cash, so if the bond for Cameron Hopkins was $150,000, somebody had to pay $15,000 cash to get him out on bond. Now, suppose one of your kids got messed up and committed a heinous crime like this. Would you pay $15,000 so your child could be released from jail while awaiting trial? As for me, the answer is hell, no. My children better not ever do anything like that, but if they did, they could just sit their ass in jail, because I sure as hell don’t have a spare $15,000 laying around.

Now what about that Clayton County district attorney, whose “mistake” — oops! — let Cameron Hopkins get out of jail, because her office missed the deadline to get him indicted so he could be held without bond? It took seven months for them to get the indictment, by which time Hopkins had been out of jail for more than four months. Shouldn’t there be some kind of accountability for such a failure? Georgia legislators thought so, which is why they passed a law creating a commission with the power to remove local prosecutors who “refuse to uphold the law.”

Guess what? The lawless officials are suing:

A coalition of Georgia district attorneys is suing to challenge a state law that created a commission to remove and discipline state prosecutors.
The group of four district attorneys is challenging a recently signed bill that established the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PACQ), which holds the power to remove local prosecutors who “refuse to uphold the law.” At the time, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said the commission would curb “far-left prosecutors” who are “making our communities less safe.”
The effort is being led by DeKalb District Attorney Sherry Boston and also includes Towaliga District Attorney Jonathan Adams, Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams, and Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady. The prosecutors in a press release said that Senate Bill 92 (SB 92) “overrides the will of voters, threatens prosecutorial independence, and violates federal and state constitutions.” . . .
The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Fulton County Superior Court, questions the constitutionality of the bill and says it oversteps by requiring district attorneys to review every single case. It says that it violates the separation of powers clause in the Georgia Constitution, noting that district attorneys fall within the jurisdiction of the judicial branch.
“This duty is practically unworkable, limiting district attorneys’ ability to define enforcement priorities and approaches and distracting from the prosecution of meritorious cases,” the lawsuit states. . . .
“Not only is SB 92 unconstitutional, this new Commission is also unnecessary and wasteful,” Boston said. “Georgia already provides other ways to address misconduct by prosecutors — including Bar discipline, impeachment, and ultimately, the ballot box.”
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr vowed to defend the law in court, saying that district attorneys are “not immune from accountability.”
“I have great respect for the important role District Attorneys play in protecting Georgia’s citizens,” Carr said in a statement. “Unfortunately, some District Attorneys have embraced the progressive movement across the nation of refusing to enforce the law. That is a dereliction of duty, and as a result, Georgia’s communities suffer.”

What about the murder of Khaliyah Jones? Isn’t this a clear example of the kind of “dereliction of duty” that Attorney General Carr wants to prevent? And where are the “social justice” activists? Where is Black Lives Matter? Why aren’t they protesting outside the Clayton County courthouse, demanding that District Attorney Tasha Mosley resign? As for the feminists who love to lecture us about “violence against women” — Amanda Marcotte, Jessica Valenti, et al. — they haven’t said say a word about the murder of Khaliyah Jones, for some reason.