The Camden County NAACP Branch joins with the Georgia NAACP in reaffirming the demand for justice for Ahmaud Arbery, as Jackie Johnson, former District Attorney of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, faces trial next month.
We also call for belated justice for Harold and Thelma Swain, nearly 40 years after they were killed as they gathered with others for prayer and Bible study at the Rising Daughter Missionary Baptist Church in Spring Bluff. NAACP Branch members who live in the area recall how the brutal murder has haunted the community for years. Most of the people involved are no longer living, but there have been so many unanswered concerns.
On December 9, Erik Sparre was booked in the Camden County Jail after the GBI ordered his arrest for this hate crime that presaged the 2015 murder of congregants at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Mr. Sparre escaped arrest in the initial investigation by the Camden County Sheriff's Office because of a purported alibi that was not discovered to be false until 2020. In the meantime, John Johnson III, who was an Assistant District Attorney working for then-DA Stephen Kelley, used an incentivized witness and suppressed evidence to convict Dennis Perry. This obstruction of justice by Brunswick Judicial Circuit prosecutors put an innocent man in prison for 18 years.
In 2020, the Innocence Project showed that the DNA evidence linked the murder instead to Mr. Sparre. Jackie Johnson (who had replaced Stephen Kelley as District Attorney when Gov. Perdue appointed DA Kelley to the Superior Court bench) called for a new GBI investigation instead of calling for a new trial or simply dropping the charges against Mr. Perry.
We echo the statement issued by the Georgia NAACP when Jackie Johnson appeared in court on December 10: "This pivotal moment underscores the importance of holding those in power accountable for their role in obstructing justice."
We also call for belated justice for Harold and Thelma Swain, nearly 40 years after they were killed as they gathered with others for prayer and Bible study at the Rising Daughter Missionary Baptist Church in Spring Bluff. NAACP Branch members who live in the area recall how the brutal murder has haunted the community for years. Most of the people involved are no longer living, but there have been so many unanswered concerns.
On December 9, Erik Sparre was booked in the Camden County Jail after the GBI ordered his arrest for this hate crime that presaged the 2015 murder of congregants at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Mr. Sparre escaped arrest in the initial investigation by the Camden County Sheriff's Office because of a purported alibi that was not discovered to be false until 2020. In the meantime, John Johnson III, who was an Assistant District Attorney working for then-DA Stephen Kelley, used an incentivized witness and suppressed evidence to convict Dennis Perry. This obstruction of justice by Brunswick Judicial Circuit prosecutors put an innocent man in prison for 18 years.
In 2020, the Innocence Project showed that the DNA evidence linked the murder instead to Mr. Sparre. Jackie Johnson (who had replaced Stephen Kelley as District Attorney when Gov. Perdue appointed DA Kelley to the Superior Court bench) called for a new GBI investigation instead of calling for a new trial or simply dropping the charges against Mr. Perry.
We echo the statement issued by the Georgia NAACP when Jackie Johnson appeared in court on December 10: "This pivotal moment underscores the importance of holding those in power accountable for their role in obstructing justice."