A former Georgia deputy bragged in messages with members of an extremist group that he had brutalized a Black man in custody and that he intended to charge Black people with felonies to keep them from voting, federal authorities revealed in court last week.
Text messages sent by 28-year-old Cody Richard Griggers in 2019 when he was still working as a Wilkinson County deputy, show that he told members of the “Shadow Moses” group, “I’m going to charge them with whatever felonies I can to take away their ability to vote,” according to an FBI affidavit.
Grigger was fired from the department in November after the FBI contacted the sheriff about an investigation regarding illegal guns and a man who had made violent political statements on social media.
A San Diego man’s phone leads to extremist group and Georgia sheriff’s deputy, FBI says
Updated May 01, 2021;
SAN DIEGO When the FBI began scrolling through the cellphone of a San Diego man arrested on weapons charges last summer, they stumbled onto a violent extremist group and a Georgia sheriff’s deputy at its center, according to federal authorities.
Calling itself “Shadow Moses,” the group communicated via text message about a theoretical civil war, militia training, weapons manufacturing and explosives, according to an FBI affidavit.
Then-Wilkinson County sheriff’s Deputy Cody Griggers stood out as a group member who rationalized violence with rhetoric steeped in white supremacist and far-right ideology, the affidavit shows.
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When the FBI began scrolling through the cellphone of a San Diego man arrested on weapons charges last summer, they stumbled onto a violent extremist group and a Georgia sheriff’s deputy at its center, according to federal authorities.
Calling itself “Shadow Moses,” the group communicated via text message about a theoretical civil war, militia training, weapons manufacturing and explosives, according to an FBI affidavit.
Then-Wilkinson County sheriff’s Deputy Cody Griggers stood out as a group member who rationalized violence with rhetoric steeped in white supremacist and far-right ideology, the affidavit shows.
The beating of a Black theft suspect was “sweet stress relief,” Griggers, 28, allegedly bragged in one text, according to court records. Charging Black people “with whatever felonies I can to take away their ability to vote” was in his opinion “a sign of beautiful things to come,” read another message.
Former Georgia sheriff s deputy caught bragging about beating a Black man, calling it sweet stress relief By Caitlin O Kane
April 30, 2021 / 11:37 AM / CBS News
A former Georgia Deputy has pleaded guilty to possessing unregistered firearms after the FBI launched an investigation into an extremist group. FBI agents discovered 28-year-old Cody Richard Griggers wrote in a group text that he manufactured and acquired illegal firearms and also expressed views that were consistent with racially motivated violent extremism.
Members in the group text, who called themselves Shadow Moses or Shadmo, texted about militia-type prepping, including lengthy discussions of weapons, combat gear and survivalist techniques, according to court documents.