Georgia Sheriff Deploys Snipers After Firing 27 Employees

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBQZACIK3E.html

Sheriff Deploys Snipers After Firing 27 Employees, Enraging Commission Chief

JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) - On his first day at work, the new sheriff called 27 employees into his office, fired them, and had snipers stand guard on the roof as they were escorted out the door.

The move Monday by Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill provoked an angry reaction from newly elected county commission chairman Eldrin Bell.

Bell, a former Atlanta police chief, said Hill's action violated the county's civil service rules.

"I have assured the discharged employees that their county will take every administrative and legal action to ensure they are treated fairly," he said.

Hill defended the firings and said the new sheriff has the right to shake up the department in whatever way he feels necessary.

more

[quiet.american]

1. Talk about a police state! n/t

[diamond14]

2. bush* has SNIPERS on the White House roof EVERYDAY...to shoot tourists

if they make any moves.....it's the NEW reTHUGlican way....FORCE, take everything by FORCE, and if that doesn't work...SHOOT THEM !!!

bush* set that standard when he started his WARS.....

[Mistress Quickly]

4. Calm down there

current presidents have snipers. And no, they aren't gunning for the tourists.

:eyes:

[diamond14]

8. the bush* WHITE HOUSE snipers point serious weapons at the

tourists EVERYDAY...come down and see it....it's real obscene and scary....the snipers are up on the roof of OUR White House...

come and FEEL the bush* effect of having SNIPERS point weapons AT YOU and YOUR CHILDREN, as you come to OUR Capital to view the White House (and NO VISITORS ALLOWED in the White House...bush* closed the White House the day he seized it...only rich reTHUGlican campaign donors are allowed into OUR White House anymore)....be very careful if YOU decide to photograph OUR White House, those snipers have LOADED guns....

[bahrbearian]

21. Yeah right ,, next you'll tell me that the US Air Force opened

fire , on one of our grade schools,, Opps never mind.

[seriousstan]

24. How many tourists did they kill or are they just lousy shots.

[RamboLiberal]

13. Those snipers were on the WH roof when Clinton was there

as well.

That's SOP for the Secret Service.

But as for the sheriff - is he going to supply snipers to every business in his area who fires employees?

[papau]

18. They are also on the building roofs of surrounding buildings.

We had them at 1701 Penn Ave all the time when I worked there.

[Maat]

3. Whoa, here again ..

we have a chief executive officer (the sheriff) who is supposed to protect and execute the law - breaking it (as allegedly is our esteemed pResident, George W.). Hello, anybody want to call these guys on it? Looks like here, though, they do have a qualified individual willing to challenge him. Hope it works.

[Pam-Moby]

5. What is up with that?

I wonder what side of the law the Sheriff is on! I hope the good side.

[Tempest]

6. I wonder if they supported his opponent

There needs to be an investigation into the firings.

[DemoTex]

7. I wonder if this is former Ga. state representative Victor Hill ...

He represented part of Clayton County as a Democratic representative to the Georgia General Assembly.

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2003_04/house/jpegs/hill,%20victor%20h081.jpg
Victor Hill

[CottonBear]

9. More info from the Guardian of London report:

Sheriff Fires Employees, Deploys Snipers
Tuesday January 4, 2005 8:16 PM

snip

Hill said the manner in which he fired the workers - including taking some deputies home in vans normally used to transport prisoners because the deputies were barred from using county cars - was necessary.

He cited the assassination of Sheriff Derwin Brown in neighboring DeKalb County in 2000. Brown was gunned down in the driveway of his home three days before he was to be sworn in. Former sheriff Sidney Dorsey was found guilty of plotting to kill him and sentenced to life in prison.

``Derwin Brown sent out letters to 25 to 30 people letting them know they would not be reappointed when he took office,'' Hill said.

more...
link: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4710738,00.html>

on edit: Deploying snipers today will not prevent a drive-by tomorrow.

[TheDebbieDee]

17. I think I'm beginning to understand......

why this Sheriff posted snipers on the roof, if this is his picture.

Wyandotte County, KS Sheriff Leroy Green had difficulties in Kansas City, KS when he tried to fire a few sub-par deputies a couple of years ago.

The firing of sub-par deputies was something that every Sheriff of Wyandotte County was encouraged to do without any fuss at all until Sheriff Green tried to do it.

[Historic NY]

10. What he did is perfectly legal.....many Sheriffs have the right to

fire or ask for resignations especially those in the south. If the job was appointed w/o a Civil Service test he is 100% legal. There has been a lot of good old boy violence in recent years in Georgia with some sheriffs. I suspect he was elected to cleanup the department.

[Blue Diadem]

15. very true

Often, deputies are hired just because they are friends or relatives of other deputies. I know a family, father, two sons and a daughter who all are deputies and were longtime friends with our outgoing Sheriff.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ralphys]

30. according to CNN

Victor Hill told reporters that all replacements would be "black". Do this set the stage for civil rights lawsuits?

[Blue Diadem]

11. more to this story,

http://www.news-daily.com/articles/2005/01/03/news/news2.txt

NAACP celebrates Jubilee, vows to continue fight

snip:
The commissioners recently transferred the CSI unit from the sheriff's office to the Clayton County Police Department, a move newly elected Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill, Clayton County's first black sheriff, saw as discriminatory action taken against him

and more of the story here:

http://www.news-daily.com/articles/2004/11/17/news/news2.txt

County commission stalls sheriff units' transfer

snip:
The Board of Commissioners' winding three-week debacle with Sheriff-elect Victor Hill gained an extra layer of complexity Tuesday, just as the county commission was prepared to untangle the conflict by acting on the transfer of the Sheriff Department's narcotics and crime scene investigation units.

In an unexpected move, the county commission deleted two agenda items that would have transferred the two investigative units to county police supervision and put to rest questions about its right to narrow the Sheriff Department's authority before Hill takes office.

The items' removal comes as almost an exact replica of the commission's Nov. 2 business meeting, where it also deleted the same two items in the face of last-minute legal contention.

The units' transfer has become a major source of friction following the general election, pitting an embattled group of recently elected officials against the outgoing county administration.

[NNN0LHI]

12. Are concealed weapons allowed in Georgia?

These people may have all legally been armed to the teeth if it is.

Don

[EC]

14. This makes me wonder

about the mindset of people...like the national guardsmen at Kent State - what are these "snipers" thinking? Would they really shot people they worked with just the day before? Would the ones on the white house roof really shot into families on vacation? The guard did at Kent...I always wondered if those guardsmen were able to live with themselves afterward...

[damntexdem]

16. Shake 'em up any way he feels necessary.

Hey, if he wants the snipers to fire at the workers, he figures he has that right, too.

Or maybe he can get them sent to Gitmo and imprisoned for life.

[struggle4progress]

19. Judge orders sheriff to rehire fired employees

A judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday forcing Clayton Sheriff Victor Hill to immediately rehire the 27 Clayton Sheriff's Department employees Hill fired Monday.

"It appears ... that employees of the Sheriff were terminated without cause and in violation of the provisions of the Clayton County Civil Service system," Clayton Superior Court Judge Stephen Boswell wrote in his order. <snip>

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/clayton/0105/05claysheriff.html

[maxsolomon]

20. that's what patrick swayze did in Roadhouse!

he fired John Doe of X!

man that movie SUUUUUCKED.

[LosinIt]

22. RoadHouse did NOT suck, any movie in which you view Pat's butt is great

sorry, did I say that out loud?

[SouthernDem2004]

23. You do realize he is a Democrat...

[SheepyMcSheepster]

25. here are comments from a DU'er in the area

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2904174&mesg_id=2904339&page=

[Judi Lynn]

26. You did us a favor to post that link to recovering democrat.

God only knows what would happen to what's left of the world if the truth didn't somehow surface from time to time!

Thanks very, very much.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

27. it is amazing the conclusions people come up with

when they just skim a story and don't really have any background on it.

i am very glad Recovering Democrat posted information that sheds much more light on the story.

[BiggJawn]

28. So were these political employees?

From the previous Sheriff?

So what, "Our Bitch Mitch" (Mitch Daniel, Governator of Indiana) told over 150 people in the statehouse their jobs were toast when he takes office.

The snipers on the roof are a bit much, IMO....