This past week Richmond and Burke County District Attorney, Jared Williams, released a self-produced video of himself. He was stating his concern over the rash of violence being committed and his heartbreak over the shooting at Josey High School.
His portrayal of a sincerely concerned advocate for the citizens of both Richmond and Burke counties was worthy of a Golden Raspberry Award.
Williams hit nearly all the spots used by most political figures either in office or seeking office to show their deep concerns and commitments.
DA Williams stated that the shooting at Josey hit home for him, stating, “I played and prayed all my life growing up right in that community.”
Yes, many politicians learn how to rhyme their message. They seem to think their creativity lingers in the minds of the voters.
He was on his way into school to serve breakfast to the school staff. That is all well and good; however, why wasn’t Williams serving breakfast to the impacted students, explaining to them what his intentions were to keep them safe?
Before he could walk into the building, he had his heart broken.
“A little boy walked up to me all confused. Because he had his poster in his hand for his school project. And it was his day to present to his class and he was excited about it. And he was wondering where everybody was,” Williams emoted. “I had to tell him there wouldn’t be any school today. It breaks my heart because he was disappointed. All he wanted to do was learn.”
I am wondering how this encounter took place on a day the school was closed to the students.
Just like all the politicians who get approached by concerned citizens as they are entering somewhere to do their spiel. Just like Joe the plumber with his concerns, Sally the housewife concerned by the rising cost of groceries or the truck driver that was having a hard time paying the cost of diesel fuel to get the much needed supplies to the people, Williams had a student approach him all confused.
The question should be asked, why did Williams have to tell him there would be no school today? Why didn’t his parents tell him? Did the school fail to send notification out to the parents and media?
Now, Williams is not an unintelligent person. A person has to be intelligent and retain knowledge to pass the Bar exam. It may just be that his ideology needs some work. In fact, it needs a lot of work.
To keep our community, citizens and visitors safe, a prosecutor must prosecute. No one is really talking about minor offenses as those can be handled without incarceration, but they must come with a penalty. Financial penance and hours of community service may be more fitting.
Letting felons with multiple convictions and prison time back out on the streets with little-to-no bail is obscene and evil in itself. A convicted felon that is caught with a gun in their possession should not be released.
Overcrowding in the jail should never be an excuse. If you can build satellite pods for school classrooms, you can build them on the prison grounds and house the least violent inmates.
A repeat offender and convicted felon with a gun is directly responsible for the death of a beautiful and innocent 8-year-old child on Jan. 8, 2022. Her name was Arbrie Anthony. She was shot and killed during a drive by shooting in some form of retaliation that she had nothing to do with.
That child was merely petting a horse and being filled with some joy when her life was taken. Why were these felons still on the streets?
DA Williams, you claim to have the best interest of our children in your heart and mind. You are a big supporter of youth programs. Where were you when Judges Carl Brown and Douglas Flanagan were fighting very hard to save the old jail building at 401 Walton Way?
They were going to use the facility for juvenile court, offices and classrooms. They even had a deal with the film company to allow movie and television shows to continue to have use of the facility when needed. It would have been an all around win for many.
But no. The politicians just had to have it torn down. After all, there was money that was in SPLOST that was dedicated to tearing the building down and that money just could not be reallocated to anything else. Although money is routinely reallocated whenever they want it to be.
I personally went and sat in Judge Flanagan’s court room to hear some of the cases that were presented before him. The judge had requested that I do that so I could see first hand what they dealt with on a near daily basis.
To see 12, 13 and 14 year old’s brought into the courtroom in hand and ankle cuffs was heartbreaking and heart wrenching. With some you could see the fear in their eyes.
With others, there was sadly nothing there but a cold stare.
There is one case in particular that I remember, and I think of it often and wonder what became of the young man. He was brought into the courtroom bound with the wrist and ankle cuffs. As he was led to the public defender’s table, he was looking around at every face in the audience.
The boy was clearly looking for someone he recognized; but, there was no one.
He had been held at the Youth Development Center for some time for some offense that he had committed. Judge Fanagan asked if the parents of the child were in the courtroom. There was no one there for that child.
The judge stated that his intention was to release the young man into the custody of his parent or parents, but had to return him to YDC. Where were his parents? Were they incarcerated? At work? Did they forget or just didn’t want to be bothered? Shouldn’t the parents be held accountable and responsible?
Most parents are too busy and involved with raising their own children to be able to raise someone else’s. That is just the way real life works.
Williams will have a strong contender for his seat in the upcoming election. Amber Brantley has the credentials and credibility to do the job. She also has the strong backing and support of some mighty influential people around her.
It may just be that Williams may have to take his cronies that he brought with him into the office and open up a private practice.
While the 401 Walton Way jail has been mentioned in this column, what’s taking so long for the destruction job to be completed? Some people complained that the old jail structure was an eye sore and an embarrassment to Augusta. One of the first things people see when they enter Augusta from the 5th Street corridor. Have you seen it lately?
The building has long been down. The location now looks like a lay down yard for a construction company. I asked Interim City Administrator Takiyah Douse if there a deadline for completion. If so, why has this lingered long after the excuse of Covid? Are there no monetary penalties for non compliance?
I never received a satisfactory answer.
Folks, as always, you just can’t make this stuff up.
