On June 29th, 2024, Elder Justin Freeman and his son were attacked by police in Toccoa Georgia without any lawful purpose, but despite evidence clearly showing his innocence, Freeman is wrongly facing decades in prison because prosecutors have refused to dismiss obviously false charges. We call on District Attorney George Christian to intervene and have the charges dismissed.

The attack by officers on Elder Freeman and his son has been publicly documented in The NEWS! with Mr. Pipsqueak on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2qTVtOboC8

The attack began when then-Deputy Dondi Nelson followed Freeman to his truck in the Home Depot parking lot after hearing Freeman make a negative comment about police. Home Depot security video clearly shows Freeman innocently backing his vehicle out of a parking space and driving away. However, Nelson falsely claimed that Freeman had tried to back the truck into him and used this as cause to commit an unlawful traffic stop.

We believe that under Georgia law, as expressed in the Supreme Court decision Glenn v. State of Georgia (2020), Freeman had a right to flee from and resist this unlawful arrest.

Nelson's dash cameras were off when he attempted to make the arrest, and he later claimed that Freeman committed numerous traffic violations during a "high-speed chase," displaying a reckless disregard to the safety of human life, however, cellphone video created by Freeman's son shows Freeman driving at a slow speed back to the Home Depot parking lot, where Nelson and Toccoa Police Officer Jake Palmer intentionally boxed the truck in, causing a crash. The crash resulted in no injuries, but Nelson later exaggerated its severity.

Dash and body cameras show that officers immediately held Freeman and his son at gunpoint, putting them in reasonable fear for their lives. Rather than violently resisting, Freeman used his cellphone to contact 911 dispatch, the local newspaper, and officers, reporting that he was afraid for his life and asking for a lawyer to come and facilitate a peaceful surrender, but officers intentionally cut off these communications and needlessly escalated the situation by violently breaching the vehicle.

Body camera footage shows that immediately upon breaching the vehicle Officer Jake Palmer shot Freeman with a taser, leaving Freeman with no possible option but to act in self-defense of himself and his son. During this altercation both Freeman and his son were battered to blood by officers, with the Elder Freeman being repeatedly tased and beaten by multiple officers to the point of serious injury.

Both father and son were taken to the jail in handcuffs.

Shortly after Freeman's wrongful arrest, several of the officers involved resigned. Nelson resigned after being disciplined for repeated instances of turning off his body and dash cameras. Nelson was rehired by Toccoa PD shortly thereafter, but is no longer employed there after a public outcry and documentary evidence that Nelson lied on his job application to cover up his disciplinary history.

The State's case against Freeman is wholly predicated on Dondi Nelson's word, but Nelson's record of dishonesty shows that his claims cannot be trusted.

Freeman is wrongly charged with simple assault for supposedly trying to back his truck into Nelson, though video shows he did not.

Freeman is wrongly charged with felony fleeing and reckless driving based on the supposedly dangerous conditions created by the imagined high-speed chase, though video shows the high-speed chase did not occur.

Freeman is wrongly charged with aggravated assault for supposedly trying to injure Nelson by intentionally causing a vehicle collision, but the law says that Freeman had a right to flee and to resist and video shows that Nelson and Palmer caused the crash.

Freeman is wrongly charged with multiple counts of obstruction for resisting arrest, but Freeman had a right to resist and to defend both his life and his son's life against the unlawful aggression and escalation of violence by the officers.

In light of the foregoing, we, the undersigned, demand that all of these charges against Freeman be dismissed.

---

NOTE: Donations made on change.org DO NOT go to the Freemans, but go to change.org to promote the petition. If you want to make a donation to the Freemans' legal fund, it is on GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-freemans-legal-battle