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FILE – In this January 11, 2005 file photo, Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill (left) is flanked by a member of his legal team, Attorney Rolf Jones (right) as he speaks during a press conference in Jonesboro, Ga. Atlanta area sheriff, Hill, is accused of violating the civil rights of several people in his agency’s custody by ordering that they be unnecessarily strapped into a restraint chair and left there for hours, according to a federal indictment. The charges against Sheriff Hill were filed on April 19, 2021 and unsealed by a federal judge on Monday, April 26. (AP Photo / Gene Blythe, File)
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FILE – In this January 11, 2005 file photo, Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill (left) is flanked by a member of his legal team, Attorney Rolf Jones (right) as he speaks during a press conference in Jonesboro, Ga. Atlanta area sheriff, Hill, is accused of violating the civil rights of several people in his agency’s custody by ordering that they be unnecessarily strapped into a restraint chair and left there for hours, according to a federal indictment. The charges against Sheriff Hill were filed on April 19, 2021 and unsealed by a federal judge on Monday, April 26. (AP Photo / Gene Blythe, File)
ATLANTA (AP) – An Atlanta area sheriff, who is no stranger to controversy, is accused of violating the civil rights of several people in the care of his agency by ordering them to be unnecessarily strapped into a restraint chair and there for hours be left, according to a state indictment.
The charges against Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill were brought on April 19 and overturned by a federal judge on Monday. Hill is said to have received regular training on not using this violence as a punishment and endorsed a policy that says a restraint chair can be used with a violent or uncontrollable person to prevent injury or property damage when using other techniques are ineffective.
The directive emphasizes that the restraint chair “will never be allowed as a punishment”.
However, the indictment stated that Hill had repeatedly ordered that people be detained for hours despite not posing a threat and abiding by MPs.
In a statement released Tuesday, Hill called the prosecutor “a politically motivated federal litigation”.
“I will continue to focus on the crime-fighting mission in Clayton County in order to continue to thrive,” Hill said in the statement on Nixle, a public intelligence system.
A man was arrested without incident in February 2020 for quarreling with two women in a grocery store three weeks earlier. Hill confronted the man on booking and asked what he was doing in Clayton County on the day of the attack, the indictment says.
“It’s a democracy, sir. It’s the United States, ”the prosecution replied.
“No it isn’t. Not in my county,” Hill replied.
When the man asked twice if he was entitled to a fair and expeditious trial, Hill insulted him, saying, “You have the right to sit in this chair and you have the right to get the hell out of my county and not come back “The indictment reads. The man was then strapped into a restraint chair and abandoned for hours on Hill’s orders, the indictment said.
A 17-year-old boy who was accused of destroying his family home during an argument with his mother in April 2020 was arrested shortly afterwards by an MP without incident. The MP spoke to Hill and wrote him a photo of the teenager in a police car.
“How old is he?” Hill wrote a text message, according to the prosecution.
“17,” replied the MP.
“Chair,” replied Hill.
The teen was strapped in a restraint chair for several hours on Hill’s orders, despite complying with the authorities, the indictment said.
A man arrested in April 2020 after a domestic disorder with possible drug use pretended to pass out and then left a hospital after refusing treatment and was not cooperative with arresting officers. He wasn’t combative when he got to jail, but Hill ordered him to have him strapped to a restraint chair for several hours, the prosecution said.
Hill cursed him and the teen while they were strapped into restraint chairs side by side, the prosecution said.
In April 2020, after a man argued with a Clayton County sheriff’s assistant about some landscaping work he was doing for the Butts County assistant, Hill called the man to ask why he was molesting the surrogate. The man replied that the MP should pay his bill and used an obscenity.
Unsure that it was actually Hill who had called, the man called back several times on FaceTime. Hill finally replied and removed a mask he was wearing. Hill texted the man to warn him not to text or call any more. The man replied by text: “So that’s Victor Hill right.” Hill warned him again by text not to call or write anymore.
Hill then directed an MP to issue a warrant for communications harassment the next day and texted the man asking him to hand himself in, the indictment said. Hill then sent a squad of refugees armed with handguns and AR-15 rifles to try to arrest the man for a misdemeanor, the indictment said.
The man hired a lawyer, hired himself and was strapped to the restraint chair for several hours, the indictment said.
Hill has been controversial since he first became sheriff in Clayton County south of Atlanta.
He fired 27 MPs on his first day in office in 2005 and used a tank belonging to the sheriff’s office during drug robberies as part of a criminal stance he adopted in his first term.
He failed to win re-election in 2008, but was brought back to office by voters in 2012, despite having faced more than two dozen criminal charges in a corruption case. A jury later acquitted him of all 27 charges and paved the way for him to continue serving as sheriff.
Hill did not plead on reckless behavior in August 2016 after he shot and injured a woman in a Gwinnett County model house in May 2015. Hill and the woman said it was an accident while practicing police tactics.
Civil rights groups sued him last year, claiming he failed to protect those detained in Clayton County Jail from the risk of contracting the coronavirus. This lawsuit is still pending.
