A former white Georgia sheriff deputy discussed charging Blacks with felonies not because they committed felonies, but rather so they would be denied the right to vote, the U.S. Department of Justice stated in court.
Additionally, according to an FBI affidavit, ex-Wilkinson County sheriff’s deputy Cody Richard Griggers boasted of beating a Black man in custody while texting with members of an extremist group. The FBI affidavit stated that Griggers, 28, called the beating he inflicted upon that Back man “sweet stress relief.”
While the FBI and ATF were investigating extremist groups’ violent rhetoric on Facebook and illegal gun sales they uncovered the text messages of Griggers, a former Marine. The feds then learned that Grigger informed the White supremacists he was illegally acquiring sawed-off shotguns and silencers, according to the Macon Telegraph. The investigation and subsequent findings led to Grigger’s termination in November 2020.
Griggers pleaded guilty in Macon, Georgia, to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm on Monday, April 26, 2021, in federal court. He will get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in July.
“This former law enforcement officer knew that he was breaking the law when he chose to possess a cache of unregistered weapons, silencers and a machine gun, keeping many of them in his duty vehicle,” Acting U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a statement on Justice.gov. “Coupled with his violent racially motivated extreme statements, the defendant has lost the privilege permanently of wearing the blue.”
Griggers’ problematic communications also revealed that he discussed “killing liberal politicians” and blaming it on Muslim extremists. He texted about charging Black people with “whatever felonies I can to take away their ability to vote.”
During an FBI search, agents found a total of 11 illegal guns between his home and his squad car, a find that was consistent with what the FBI said was Griggers’ penchant for talking about making explosives and gathering illegal firearms at his home.
-BlackPressUSA