DA: Terroristic Threat Charges Not About Flying Confederate Flag (ICYMI)

Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner wants to make it clear that despite some misperceptions the indictments handed down this week against members of “Respect the Flag” was not for flying the Confederate flag during a July 25 incident.

Fifteen members of the group were charged with violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and terroristic threats stemming from the summer altercation between a convoy of trucks flying Confederate battle flags and a group of African Americans at a child’s birthday party.

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“Recent press reports have made prominent references to the fact that, at the time the alleged offenses occurred, some of the accused were displaying the modern adaptation of the “Confederate battle flag,” which was a flag used to identify some units of the army of the former Confederate States of America during the American Civil War,” Fortner said in a statement. “This case is not about the display of that flag.”

The charges, Fortner stressed, were based on the suspects alleged actions on July 25. Specifically, the accused are charged with “unlawfully threatening to commit a crime of violence to individuals who were attending a party at 9037 Campbellton Street, Douglasville, Georgia, with the purpose of terrorizing those individuals and in reckless disregard for the risk of causing such terror.”

That the group was composed of three or more people during the altercation, they are “alleged to have engaged in criminal gang activity by committing the offense of terroristic threats,” Fortner said, thus a violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

See the entire statement at the end of this article

The charges come after an investigation by Douglasville Police and the DA’s office of the July 25 incident, from which cell phone video was widely shared on social media.

According to police at the time of the incident, officers responded to a 911 call around 3:30 p.m. concerning a group of trucks flying rebel flags traveling southbound on Hwy 92 from Paulding County entering Douglas County.

Officers followed the convoy for a distance and did not see any criminal or traffic violations, but shortly afterward were notified there was a heated argument between two groups of people, including those with the convoy.

Party-goers reported members of the flag-flyersyelled racial slurs and threatened them. The party host told the AJC the trucks drove past several times before parking in a grassy area near the home.

Convoy riders said somebody at the party threw rocks at the trucks, forcing one to fish-tale and pop a tire. They said the convoy then pulled off the road near the party residence when the confrontation escalated.

Fortner said he will not make any more statement until the case is closed.

Charged in the case are apparent “Respect the Flag” members Robert Andrew Hansard, John Anthony Allen, Lacey Paul Henderson, Joe Eric Hood, Levi Devin Bush, Ashley Elizabeth Butler, Alexis Odell Fennell, Lacey Paul Henderson II, Jose Ismael Torres, Amanda Sue Dyson, Jeffery Chad Wigley, Gregory Adam Upchurch, Scott Chapman, Thomas Charles Summers and Judy King Summers.

Press Release on Respect Flag Group