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Individuals associated with a group of Confederate flag supporters in Douglas County, Ga., have been indicted on terrorism charges, it was announced on Monday.

The charges are related to a July 25 incident in which members of a group called Respect the Flag drove a convoy of vehicles displaying Confederate flags through a neighborhood in Douglasville, when they were involved in an altercation with residents outside a home where a children's birthday party was taking place.

According to a July 27 Atlanta Journal-Constitution report, those engaged in the confrontation offered conflicting accounts of what happened.

Residents said the demonstrators entered their neighborhood and started shouting racial slurs.

"One had a gun, saying he was gonna kill the n******," Melissa Alford, who was holding the birthday party, told the paper. "Then one of them said, 'Gimme the gun, I'll shoot them n******."

Levi Bush, one of the drivers, told the paper the convoy had been attacked by residents throwing rocks, and after he got a flat tire the residents swarmed his truck and threatened him.

Video of the altercation, during which police are seen separating the demonstrators from residents, was later posted online

On Monday the Douglas County District Attorney's Office released a letter stating that following an investigation by local police and the D.A., a grand jury handed down indictments charging individuals from Respect the Flag with violations of the state's Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and making terroristic threats.

There was no indication how many people were indicted, but George jail records show at least four people have already been arrested.

Two members of the group were also indicted on battery charges in a separate incident that took place that same day.

JohnStOnge wrote:Something tells me the authorities were not even handed in this case.

JohnStOnge wrote:All the video shows is people riding by with vehicles with flags attached to them. Are we going to say that riding down the street with unpopular symbols on your vehicle is "terrorism?"

dbackjon wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:All the video shows is people riding by with vehicles with flags attached to them. Are we going to say that riding down the street with unpopular symbols on your vehicle is "terrorism?"

What about driving through a party like they did?

What about driving through a party like they did?

Skjellyfetti wrote:Threats of violence were made. And, they were armed. And, their charges are based on the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

The District Attorney is a white Republican.

Skjellyfetti wrote:Threats of violence were made. And, they were armed. And, their charges are based on the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

The District Attorney is a white Republican.

CID1990 wrote:a difficult statute

CitadelGrad wrote:The statute under which they were charged might be unconstitutional. We shall see.

CitadelGrad wrote: I didn't see or hear threats of violence. It is OK to be armed.

CitadelGrad wrote:I also saw negroes acting like negroes.

Threats of violence were made.

JohnStOnge wrote:

Threats of violence were made.

All I see is a quote by some Black chick claiming threats of violence were made.

Skjellyfetti wrote:

CID1990 wrote:a difficult statute

CitadelGrad wrote:The statute under which they were charged might be unconstitutional. We shall see.

I agree that it's a bad law. And, that's part of why I'm enjoying the story so much.

The statute is 20+ years old. It (and laws like it) are used across the country to bring heavier charges against loosely defined "groups" to define them as "gangs" or "terrorists." And... they're overwhelmingly used against minorities.

As soon as they use it to arrest some white people - y'all think it's a "difficult statute" and "unconstitutional." When it's been going on for decades to other groups... you haven't noticed or cared.

But, yeah. I'm on board with scrapping these laws across the country if y'all are.

CitadelGrad wrote: I didn't see or hear threats of violence. It is OK to be armed.

And, again - the video isn't the only piece of evidence.

They're also charged with battery at a convenience store they also visited.

anonymous#2 wrote:So how many blacks died at the hands of other blacks in Chicago this week?

A Georgia judge sentenced a couple to prison time today for their involvement in a 2015 incident in which a group they were part of waved Confederate flags, shouted racial slurs and made armed threats, all at adults and children attending a child's party outside of Atlanta.

Jose Torres, 26, and Kayla Norton, 25, cried today in a Douglas County court as they were sentenced to 20 years and 15 years in jail, respectively.

In July 2015, the parents of three children were part of a group of Confederate flag supporters calling themselves Respect the Flag. For two days that summer, the group rode around in pickup trucks threatening black families and calling them racial slurs across two counties in the Atlanta suburbs.

The group targeted black families shortly after the Charleston church massacre because its members were upset that South Carolina had responded to the brutal slayings by removing the Confederate battle flag from various sites.

At one point, the group pulled up to a birthday party for a black child in Douglasville. The group's members allegedly threatened to kill the partygoers, with Torres confronting the family with a gun that Norton had loaded. The family called the police.

In an indictment, Torres and Norton, among others, were charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats and violation of the state's Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

During the pair's sentencing today, the judge said the pair's actions "were motivated by racial hatred," according to The Associated Press.

Through tears, Norton addressed the relatives of the child whose birthday she and others disrupted.

"That is not me. That is not me. That is not him," Norton said in court after her sentencing. "I would never walk up to you and say those words to you. And I am so sorry that happened to you."

Four people were charged with felonies, according to ABC affiliate WSB-TV.com; however, the other two people pleaded guilty and got shorter prison terms.

The judge, saying Torres and Norton had committed a hate crime, also banned them from entering Douglas County after they were released from prison.

Skjellyfetti wrote:Bump.

Guilty.

20 years and 15 years.

A Georgia judge sentenced a couple to prison time today for their involvement in a 2015 incident in which a group they were part of waved Confederate flags, shouted racial slurs and made armed threats, all at adults and children attending a child's party outside of Atlanta.

Jose Torres, 26, and Kayla Norton, 25, cried today in a Douglas County court as they were sentenced to 20 years and 15 years in jail, respectively.

In July 2015, the parents of three children were part of a group of Confederate flag supporters calling themselves Respect the Flag. For two days that summer, the group rode around in pickup trucks threatening black families and calling them racial slurs across two counties in the Atlanta suburbs.

The group targeted black families shortly after the Charleston church massacre because its members were upset that South Carolina had responded to the brutal slayings by removing the Confederate battle flag from various sites.

At one point, the group pulled up to a birthday party for a black child in Douglasville. The group's members allegedly threatened to kill the partygoers, with Torres confronting the family with a gun that Norton had loaded. The family called the police.

In an indictment, Torres and Norton, among others, were charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats and violation of the state's Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

During the pair's sentencing today, the judge said the pair's actions "were motivated by racial hatred," according to The Associated Press.

Through tears, Norton addressed the relatives of the child whose birthday she and others disrupted.

"That is not me. That is not me. That is not him," Norton said in court after her sentencing. "I would never walk up to you and say those words to you. And I am so sorry that happened to you."

Four people were charged with felonies, according to ABC affiliate WSB-TV.com; however, the other two people pleaded guilty and got shorter prison terms.

The judge, saying Torres and Norton had committed a hate crime, also banned them from entering Douglas County after they were released from prison.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/duo-prison-tim ... d=45788918

Skjellyfetti wrote:

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:Should they have been found guilty? Yes

Should they have to serve more than 3-5 years for a crime that didnt hurt anyone......only feelings? Of course not, no sane country would give them 15+ for speaking and driving.