Georgia sheriff accused of restraining compliant detainees in chairs for HOURS as they urinated themselves is indicted by a federal grand jury
An Atlanta-area sheriff has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly violating the civil rights of detainees by restraining them in chairs for hours and ordering employees to use excessive force.
Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill was taken into federal custody on Tuesday following a federal indictment filed on April 14 that alleges he abused several victims in the county's jail by strapping them to restraint chairs for hours even though they posed no threat and had complied with deputies.
The indictment says that Hill regularly received training that said force may not be used as punishment, the Associated Press reported.
The sheriff had even approved a policy that emphasizes that the restraint chair 'will never be authorized as a form of punishment.'
Hill released a statement on Tuesday calling the prosecution 'a political motivated federal legal case.'
'I will continue to focus on the mission of fighting crime in Clayton County for continued success,' Hill said in the statement on Nixle, a public messaging system.
Hill (pictured) was indicted by a federal grand jury for alleged civil rights violations
The Indictment outlines Hill's alleged abuses against several prisoners who are referred to by their initials, starting with 'victim J.A' who was arrested without incident in February 2020 on charges stemming from an argument with two women at a grocery store three weeks earlier.
Hill confronted the man during booking, asking what he had been doing in Clayton County the day of the assault, the indictment says.
'It's a democracy, sir. It's the United States,' the man replied, according to the indictment.
'No, it's not. Not in my county,' Hill responded.
When the man asked twice whether he was entitled to a fair and speedy trial, Hill insulted him and said, 'You entitled to sit in this chair, and you're entitled to get the hell out of my county and don't come back,' the indictment says.
The man was then strapped into a restraint chair and left for hours on Hill's order, the indictment says.
A second victim, identified as 'victim C.H' was a 17-year-old boy who was arrested without incident by a deputy after he was accused of vandalizing his family home during an argument with his mother in April 2020.
The deputy spoke with Hill on the phone and texted him a photo of the teen handcuffed in a police car.
Hill texted the deputy inquiring about his age, when the deputy responded '17' Hill simply texted back the word 'Chair'.
The indictment against Sheriff Hill involves detainees being restrained in a chair inside Clayton County Jail
The teen was strapped into a restraint chair for several hours on Hill's orders despite having complied with authorities, the indictment says.
The indictment also mentions 'Victim J.H', who was arrested the same day in April 2020 after a domestic disturbance with possible drug use.
The victim fell out of a chair and pretended to pass out at the police station after his arrest and was taken to a local hospital where he refused treatment and walked out
When he was re-apprehended by police he was uncooperative but he was not combative once he arrived at the jail, the indictment says.
Despite that, Hill ordered him strapped into a restraint chair for several hours, not allowing him to use the bathroom.
The victim urinated on himself while in the chair, the indictment says.
Hill allegedly proceeded to berate both 'victim C.H' and 'victim J.H' while they were strapped in restraint chairs near each other.
After losing re-election in 2008, Hill (pictured) returned to office in 2012 after being acquitted of 27 criminal charges in a corruption case
The final victim, identified as 'victim G.H', entered a dispute with a deputy over landscaping in April 2020.
Sheriff Hill called the victim and asked why he was harassing the deputy and the man responded that the deputy should pay his bill and added 'you can go f*** yourself.' before hanging up, the indictment said.
Unsure it was actually Hill who had called, the man called back several times using FaceTime. Hill finally answered and removed a mask he was wearing. Hill then texted the man to warn him not to text or call anymore. The man responded by text, 'so this is Victor Hill correct.' Hill again warned him by text not to call or text anymore.
Hill then instructed a deputy the next day to take out a warrant for harassing communications and then texted the man to tell him to turn himself in, the indictment says. Hill then sent a fugitive squad armed with handguns and AR-15 rifles to try to arrest the man on the misdemeanor charge, the indictment says.
The man hired a lawyer and turned himself in and was strapped into the restraint chair for several hours, the indictment says.
Hill has been controversial since he first became sheriff in Clayton County, just south of Atlanta.
He fired 27 deputies on his first day in office in 2005 and used a tank owned by the sheriff's office during drug raids as part of a tough-on-crime stance adopted in his first term, AP reports.
After losing re-election in 2008 he returned to office in 2012 after being acquitted of 27 criminal charges in a corruption case.
Hill pleaded no contest to a reckless conduct charge in August 2016 for a shooting in 2015.
Hill claimed he was practicing police tactics with a woman when he shot her, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
The woman shot in the incident told police the shooting was an accident and Hill should not have been criminally charged and Hill was sentenced to 12 months of probation and $1,000 fine.
A civil rights groups sued Hill last year claiming he was failing to protect people held in the Clayton County jail from the risk of contracting the coronavirus, AP reports.
That suit is still pending.
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