After being freed on bond Thursday evening, the wife of a Clayton man who plans to oppose controversial Sheriff Victor Hill in 2020 said she is fine but expects to face more harassment.
“This sheriff is extraordinarily petty,” Gerrian Hawes said in a Facebook livestream she posted from her car shortly after posting bond. “I may be in and out of jail. But I was built for this.”
Hawes was taken into custody by Clayton sheriff's deputies just before 5 p.m. Wednesday on harassing communications charges.
Robert Hawes, who announced his plans to run for sheriff last Friday on Facebook, said his wife and Hill got into a back and forth over email after the sheriff allegedly made unfounded allegations about their children.
“The last 24 hours have been crazy,” Hawes says in the livestream before thanking supporters. “I’m not crying because I’m hurt, I’m not crying because I’m sad. I’m just so emotional now.”
A Facebook livestream of her arrest on Wednesday had about 141,000 views by early Friday morning. As she is being escorted to a squad car, Gerrian Hawes can be heard saying that one of her emails to the sheriff's office was, "Love is king. Where there is love, fear cannot exist."
In the live feed Thursday, Gerrian Hawes said the sheriff’s office tried “their best to take my dignity,” but did not give any details to support the claim.
“Please pray for us, please send us those good vibrations,” she said near the close of the livestream. “This is going to be a two-year journey. Clayton County needs to wake up.”
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