Embattled Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill is facing a new federal indictment alleging his office illegally used a restraint chair on a detainee who was hooded and punched in the face after being arrested for speeding and driving on a suspended license. However, the new indictment suspiciously seems to lack any direct evidence that the now suspended sheriff was involved, and many are questioning if the incident even occurred.
A new letter sent to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp from Alan G. Parker, legal counsel for the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, highlights the connections between Hill’s political enemies and the federal indictment. Some of the most notable highlights are:
1. The same people who were involved in a 2012 attempt to indict Hill are now involved in this federal indictment.
2. Many of the people involved are former disgruntled employees that Hill had either fired and/or arrested or both.
3. The investigation was initiated by a political opponent of Hill and his supporters.
4. All of the five alleged victims were found and “coached”. The letter states none of them came forward to make a complaint on their own.
A federal grand jury previously indicted Hill in April on four counts of violating inmates’ constitutional rights with use of the restraint chair. The new charge is a 14-page superseding indictment.
FULL LETTER:
Dear Governor Kemp,
In light of new proof that everyone involved in initiating the 5 count indictment against Sheriff Hill was either fired and/or arrested by him, either involved in the first attempt to indict Sheriff Hill to keep him out of office in 2012, or involved in the last political campaign to unseat Sheriff Hill, I am asking you once again to reconsider lifting his suspension.
On June 17, 2021, I wrote a letter to your office requesting that you reconsider the suspension of Sheriff Hill based on the inadequacies in which the three person review commission conducted their inquiry. My letter not only showed that Sheriff Hill had legitimate reasons based on knowledge of prior behavior of the 4 detainees to put them in the restraint chair, but also that none of the detainees sustained any bodily injuries as falsely alleged in the federal indictment. “No person in this judicial circuit has ever been criminally prosecuted or even held civilly liable for so little” said Lynsey Barron a former federal prosecutor who has now joined Sheriff’s Hill defense team.
Last week, federal prosecutors proved my point that Sheriff Hill is being falsely charged with causing pain and bodily injury to 4 detainees by reacting desperately with a superseding indictment that now alleges “bodily injury.” They dug up alleged victim, Walter Thomas, who admitted he was told to call in his complaint by a man who was working on a political campaign to unseat Sheriff Hill. Thomas claimed that after being placed in a restraint chair, a hood was placed over his head and he was struck twice in the face by what he believed was a fist by an unidentified officer who Thomas described in detail even though he claimed a hood was over his head.
If we adopt the Federal Prosecutors position as factual, there should be another “defendant” that did the actually alleged “punching”. So inquiring minds would like to know, who was the officer that allegedly punched the detainee in the face? Why wasn’t this mystery officer also not charged? This situation as described by prosecutors portrays a George Floyd scenario, meaning, other officers who were present when this detainee was allegedly beaten did nothing to stop it, and failed to report it. If this is true why was Sheriff Hill the only one charged? Nothing in the indictment stated that Sheriff Hill touched or even directed that detainee Thomas be touched. This new allegation tries weakly to make the implication with no substantive proof that Sheriff Hill caused this detainee to be punched, when it could not be further from the truth.
Walter Thomas told the investigating agent that interviewed him, that he was referred by Cleveland Jackson to make the complaint. Governor, if you recall in my first letter to your office, Cleveland Jackson was named in the search warrant by the federal investigators as another detainee who should not have been placed in the restraint chair by Sheriff Hill. Sheriff Hill was not indicted for recommending Jackson be placed in the restraint chair because it would have revealed that Jackson previously was actively working to get Robert Hawes elected Sheriff. Robert Hawes (a former Clayton County Sheriff’s Deputy) was fired and arrested at the direction of Sheriff Hill for making a false police report on two stolen Sheriff’s office firearms and forging a citation for an exotic dancer who was once in his custody. Hawes’ wife (who was exposed for running a magazine scam by Sheriff Hill) was also arrested for harassing communications after repeatedly sending emails to Sheriff Hill after she was warned several times to stop. Prosecutors do not want to reveal to the public that this restraint chair investigation was initiated by a political candidate and his supporters for Sheriff.
To make it even more obvious that this newly added charge is motivated by political rivals of Sheriff Hill, Walter Thomas told the investigating agent that his attorney was Jonathan Newton. It is no coincidence that Jonathan Newton was a former Sheriff’s Office employee who was arrested for accepting illegal kickback money from a printing business after an investigation ordered by Sheriff Hill. Newton corroborated his involvement by bragging on social media that he was actively involved in this federal investigation by looking for more alleged victims. Newton was also involved in the first politically driven indictment against Sheriff Hill of which he was cleared on all charges. While on the stand testifying against Sheriff Hill, Newton broke down and began crying after his credibility was impeached when he admitted to tax fraud. Based on various narratives, Newton is also allegedly suspected and being looked into for forging college credits from an online college to gain entrance to a law school.
Attorney Drew Findling who is representing Sheriff Hill against the contrived indictments, summed up how ridiculous this new accusation is stating “the superseding indictment is a desperate Hail Mary by the government in response to Sheriff Hill’s powerful motion to dismiss. The allegations contained in the additional count were known to the government for over a year and clearly not included by the government in the initial indictment. The not-so-new allegation blatantly lacks credibility and originates from a clearly biased source. Most importantly, there is no allegation that Sheriff Hill himself or anyone at his direction physically assaulted or touched this individual.”
Clayton County DA Investigator Dennis Baker, who spearheaded the 2012 indictment against Sheriff Hill in an attempt to unseat him is now a F.B.I. Task Force Member and helped coordinate this Federal restraint chair investigation. Butts County Sheriff Gary Long who coached the first alleged victim to come forth, is also a former Clayton County Sheriff’s Deputy who supported former Sheriff Kem Kimbrough during the 2012 indictment plot attempt against Sheriff Hill. All of the alleged 5 victims in this case were solicited by Hill’s political enemies. None of them had a complaint and did not come forward on their own until they were coached to do so.
Honorable Governor Kemp, when you look at all of the individuals who have played a role in the creation of this indictment, the same names consisting of individuals who were either arrested, fired, (if not both) by Sheriff Hill, or involved in a political campaign to attempt to unseat him continue to surface. It must be noted that this is the 2nd attempt to remove Sheriff Hill from office by means of a false indictment. It is not a coincidence that the same people that were involved then are involved now. It is very obvious that their strategy with these false charges is to trigger a suspension, or a loss of p.o.s.t. certification in order to give them the edge they would need in a political campaign against the Sheriff. The fact that the F.B.I. and Federal Prosecutors are unwittingly playing the role of an enabler for them by facilitating a political hack job is astounding to say the least.
Violent crime is now up in every sector of Clayton County since Sheriff Hill’s suspension. Not only was our violent crime down before his suspension, but our murder rate was down 24% in contrast to surrounding jurisdictions. As a Governor who has addressed the rising crime in the metro area, I implore you not to allow Hill’s political enemies to use the power of your office for their political gain. This suspension stops the one man who has proven he can control and reduce crime. By having Sheriff Hill sit on the sidelines while violent crime takes off in Clayton County diminishes the quality of life for citizens who depends on his leadership.
I respectfully request that you assemble another 3 panel commission that can verify all of the facts that I have presented to you about the background and falsities in this case. This will afford Sheriff Hill his due process right of being presumed innocent until he is proven innocent and exonerated in court.
Respectfully
Alan G. Parker Esq.
