Residents may voice their concerns for our elected council members to perform their duties free from intimidation, harm, and threats of extremism and insurrection by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — “The legislative cannot transfer the power of making laws to any other hands: for it being but a delegated power from the people, they who have it cannot pass it over to others.” — John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, published anonymously in 1689.
Late last week, NAACP president Wane Hailes sent an extremist and racist email to other local political activists. The email disseminated information inciting others to overthrow the rule of law and constitutional form of government in Columbus if city council members do not vote how he wants them to along his preferred racial lines.
The Muckraker has obtained a copy of Hailes’ email in -full. Due to the extremist and race-based nature of Hailes’ message, we have made the ethical and responsible decision not to amplify the extremist message and instructions contained in Hailes’ email.
The email has also been reviewed by key officials who are looking into the serious and extremist nature of Hailes’ message.
The specific wording of Hailes’ email appears to blatantly violate several Georgia state laws. Should Hailes’ incitement result in anything more than words, Hailes could likely be held criminally liable for the incitement of an insurrection, as well as several other serious offenses:
If charged, the act of Incitement to Insurrection alone carries a sentence of up to ten years in Georgia. The additional charges for other associated crimes would add additional jail time that could cumulatively amount to decades behind bars.
The Columbus Code of Ordinances specifically outlines the form of our city’s government along with the precise authorities granted to elected officials over city officers. Those powers include the sole right of city council to vote on the approval and removal of city officers. Illegally interfering with that constitutional process is highly criminal.
Hailes’ email blatantly called for the overthrowing of our city government’s duly-appointed and sacred constitutional authority if local officials did not vote along race-based lines that he himself openly dictated in the same email.
Hailes’ email also described how he planned to organize others to deploy scare tactics, use undue political pressure, and other extremist plots in hopes of forcing city council to vote along race-based lines of his personal liking. The email states that if Hailes’ plans of undue pressure are not successful, Hailes’ followers should then gather en-masse and seek to overthrow the constitutional vote of our city’s elected officials.
Hailes’ plot was specific enough to even include a plan to secure funding from his followers to help carry out his plot.
According to Section 16-11-3 of the Georgia Code, anyone who incites others to overthrow or attempt to overthrow the representative and constitutional form of government of the state or any political subdivision thereof (i.e., the Columbus City Council) has committed the act of incitement to insurrection if any violent act results from the original inciting act (i.e., Hailes’ email).
While we will not publish the wording of Hailes’ email, we do firmly assure that his words do in fact appear to blatantly incite such an insurrection by a group of people he instructed to organize and orchestrate said acts.
Hailes’ email used race to incite political actions against our city’s elected officials based on the color of their skin, openly stating that council members of one particular skin color should be targeted for their assumed political beliefs while others should not.
The email also incited others to provide Hailes with money for what appears to be an illegal communications plot that may violate FCC regulations regarding the use of automated electronic communications for political purposes.
Residents may voice their concerns for our elected council members to perform their duties free from intimidation, harm, and threats of extremism and insurrection by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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