Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill was back at work Wednesday, a day after he was indicted on federal charges of violating the civil rights of four jail detainees last year.
The Clayton sheriff’s office posted a message on Hill’s Nixle page around 5 a.m. Wednesday that alerted residents that Ga. 138 was shutdown in both directions because of a fatal car accident.
The post showed a picture of Hill in a suit walking on a closed street where backed-up traffic could be seen in the distance. But the office did not indicate where or when the photo had been taken.
Hill pled not guilty to the civil rights violations in Magistrate Court on Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia accused Hill of strapping detainees in restraining chairs for hours.
The charges also include restraining a Butts County landscaper who had been in a dispute over billing with a deputy in the Clayton Sheriff’s Office and with a 17-year-old who had been accused of vandalizing his home after getting into an argument with his mother.
Federal law allows use of a restraint chair to keep inmates from harming themselves or someone else, but the chairs must not be used as a form of punishment.
Hill’s attorneys insisted Wednesday that the sheriff did not cause harm to any of the defendants and that the restraints fell within proper guidelines.
“The protocol that is required for the use of a restraining chair was absolutely, unequivocally followed to the ‘T,” said Drew Findling, who, with co-counsel Marissa Goldberg, said emergency personnel were available in case there were any problems.
The indictment says that the restraints caused bodily harm and injury.
Hill’s representatives said what federal officials should focus on is police shootings of civilians across the nation, not Hill.
“The Department of Justice has made, what appears to be, a tactical decision, to take a back seat on civil rights violations regarding what we see now as the daily shooting of citizens,” he said.
Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine said at a press conference Tuesday that Hill was indicted because he allegedly violated the rights of people he was sworn to protect.
“Such abuses of power not only harm the victims, they also erode the community’s trust in law enforcement,” he said.
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