Former Georgia deputy bragged he'd charge Black people with fake felonies to strip them of voting rights: FBI

According to the Belleville News-Democrat, a former Georgia sheriff's deputy arrested on multiple gun charges bragged in private texts that he would charge Black people with felonies to prevent them from voting.

"The ex-Wilkinson County deputy, Cody Richard Griggers, of Montrose, was fired last November after the FBI contacted the sheriff there about an investigation into illegal guns and their alleged ties to a California man said to have made violent political statements on Facebook," reported Joe Kovac, Jr. "Griggers, 28, a former Marine, pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court in Macon to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm, a crime the authorities discovered in their probe, which began last summer. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in July."

"I'm going to charge them with whatever felonies I can to take away their ability to vote," he wrote in a text message, according to an FBI affidavit. He also bragged about a brutal assault on a Black man, saying "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." However, the sheriff says this was likely just made up, as there is no gun store in the area.

According to the report, Griggers also made "frequent positive references to the Nazi holocaust" in his texts.

"The prosecutors said that on Nov. 19 last year that the FBI searched Griggers' patrol car and found a machine gun 'with an obliterated serial number,' a weapon he was not allowed to have in his patrol car," said the report. "'An unregistered short barrel shotgun was found in his home,' the statement went on. 'In all, between the defendant's residence and duty vehicle, officers found 11 illegal firearms.'"

This case is not unique. Reports have indicated that white supremacists have embedded themselves in police departments around the country. The FBI has warned about the problem as far back as 15 years ago.

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