DOUGLASVILLE, Ga., Oct. 12 (UPI) — A confederate flag group was indicted Monday for making terrorist threats and gang activity near Atlanta, prosecutors announced.
A grand jury charged all 15 members of a group called Respect the Flag after they allegedly drove pick up trucks flying large Confederate flags through a black neighborhood before stopping at the birthday party of an African-American child in Douglasville, near Atlanta July 25, prosecutors said.
People at the party allege the group threatened them with violence and shouted racial epithets.
The 10 men and five women were charged with making terrorists threats and violating Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Two members of the group, Joe Hood and Thomas Summers, were also charged with battery for an incident earlier in the day at a gas station.
The Confederate group yelled racial slurs and waved various weapons like a shotgun or rifle, a knife and a crowbar at the partygoers, said the Southern Poverty Law Center, who are representing some of the accusers.
Douglas County district attorney Brian Fortner said the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act is “worded very broadly to deal with any type of activity that occurs with a group that’s organized that commits a crime.”
