Black Lives Matter

White Deputy Stripped Black People of Voting Rights — Charged Them With Fake Felonies

White supremacists infiltrated law enforcement. Now what?

Allison Wiltz M.S.
Momentum
Published in
5 min readMay 5, 2021

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Photo Credit | Amanda Lucier / for NBC News

Former Georgia Deputy Cody Griggers bragged in text messages about abusing his authority. “I’m going to charge them with whatever felonies I can to take away their ability to vote,” he wrote. The idea of an officer joyfully placing false charges on Black people is terrifying. Police officers wield an enormous amount of power over the communities they serve. Griggers’ statement shows how dangerous this position becomes when held by White supremacists.

He bragged about beating a Black man he had in custody. Showing no remorse whatsoever, he said it gave him “sweet stress relief.” At least that’s what he claimed when speaking with other extremists online, per the local newspaper, the Belleville News Democrat. The sheriff doubts this event took place. According to prosecutors, the former deputy “expressed views consistent with racially motivated violent extremism, including racial slurs.”

I beat the (expletive) out of a (racial slur) Saturday. (Expletive) tried to steal (a gun magazine) from the local gun store. … Sheriff’s dept. said it looked like he fell,” the affidavit noted, quoting Griggers.”…

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Allison Wiltz M.S.
Momentum

Black womanist scholar and doctoral candidate from New Orleans, LA with bylines @ Momentum, Oprah Daily, ZORA, Cultured #WEOC Founder. allisonthedailywriter.com