News on what is not in "the news" - January 2021 email to Marietta Daily Journal publisher Otis Brumby lll- 287(g) OCGA 42-4-14

Note: The below email was intended to insure the publisher of the Marietta Daily Journal was aware of the existence of state law that requires all jailers to use reasonable effort to determine immigration status of incoming prisoners and to report illegal aliens to U.S. DHS. To our knowledge the MDJ has not run any news item informing readers of the existence of this law or the fact that the Cobb County Sheriff is in violation. Similar emails were sent to most other news outlets in Georgia.

We do not know of any news stories on this topic. More here and here and here.

Related: MDJ (and MDJ-owned Rome Tribune) did run a story on Cobb Sheriff inviting a mariachi band to the celebration event in which he announced he was ending the lifesaving 287(g) agreement in the Cobb jail. The liberal Atlanta Journal Constitution ran a story on both Cobb & Gwinnett sheriffs ending the 287 (g) program and the AJC ran a celebratory story a year later explaining that neither sheriff was reporting illegal aliens to the feds.

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From: “D.A. King” <D**********>

Subject: Heads up – you need to know Re; 287(g)

Date: January 20, 2021 at 6:17:03 PM EST

To: otis3@mdjonline ****

Otis,

Due to first-hand, educated contempt, I have not been involved in Cobb politics in a long while and have not seen your paper in years because of my near total absence of respect for your editors. Those feelings do not apply to you.

Heads up: You need to understand that the new sheriff knows very well (I have made sure of it, personally) that long standing state law requires all jailers to report illegal immigration status to DHS, – 287(g) or no 287(g).

A friend has sent me a pasted version of a news article for the MDJ “Bold, necessary, and overdue”: Sheriff Owens declares end to 287(g) immigration enforcement” that lacks any form of balance, topic knowledge or coverage of the law I describe above. I am proud to have worked on this law with Chip Rogers in 2006 and several times after that including 2011 on HB 87. We put this language in the code as a ‘Plan B’. It is counter productive for the media to keep it secret. It is also counter productive to not comply.

Dustin Inman and literally thousands of other Americans have lost their lives because illegal aliens have been released from local custody and then gone on to kill or harm an innocent. The Cobb Sheriff is using talking points from the far-left that he does not understand. And he is smearing LEO brothers in the process as “profiling.”

I am taking the time to fill you in out of great anger and an effort to save some lives. The AJC refuses to educate their readers. I hope that is not the case with the MDJ. I have subscribed online to watch.

D.A. King

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Sheriff Association guidelines here.

—>UPDATE: The liberal AJC prints a lengthy correction after demand letter from the Dustin Inman Society. More news on this coming soon.

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Daily Signal News report (‘DEFAMATORY’: Conservative Demands Swing-State Newspaper Retract ‘Hate Group’ Smear’)
on the recent AJC attack here by the great Tyler O’Neil.

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I added educational hyperlinks to the below letter – dak.

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October 18, 2024

VIA U.S. REGULAR MAIL & E-MAIL

Leroy Chapman, Jr., Editor in Chief THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION 223 Perimeter Center Pkwy NE Atlanta, Georgia 30346

Re: Demand for Retraction and Apology

Dear Mr. Chapman, Jr.:

I write on behalf of my client, the Dustin Inman Society (DIS), to demand an immediate retraction and apology for the defamatory statements published in your October 7, 2024, article titled “Democrats in this Georgia district are backing a write-in candidate” by Tia Mitchell.

Through use of internet links, the AJC article wrongfully characterizes the Dustin Inman Society as a “Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group.” This characterization is false, defamatory, and published with actual malice. The Dustin Inman Society pushes for secure borders, is not “anti-immigration” and its proprietors do not hate anyone. Rather, DIS advocates for enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and actively opposes unlawful immigration. This distinction is crucial and well-known to staff at your publication.

I paste the offending paragraph from the AJC story:

“A search of activity under her birth name, Karen Sacandy, which Stamper legally changed in 2019, showed that she previously was aligned with a Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group. The group’s website often linked to Sacandy’s activities, like a letter seeking information about the state’s Immigration Enforcement Review Board and a copy of a letter to the editor supporting legislation to prevent immigrants claiming asylum from obtaining driver’s licenses.”

HEMMER WESSELS MCMURTRY PLLC
250 Grandview Drive, Suite 500, Ft. Mitchell, KY 41017 ● Phone 859.344.1188 ● Fax 859.578.3869

October 18, 2024 Page 2

We note the AJC informs readers that the Dustin Inman Society “often” linked to Karen Sacandy/Kate Stamper activities — but produces only two occasions.

Your story, for which DIS founder and president D.A. King was not contacted, informs readers that Sacandy/Stamper “was aligned” with the Dustin Inman Society. We note that polls show that a majority of Americans oppose the federal offense of illegal immigration. Since the letter posted on the DIS site was a published missive to the editor at the Cherokee Tribune, we must ask: does this make that newspaper a “Cherokee County-based anti-immigration hate group”?

Your characterization demonstrates a reckless and vindictive disregard for the truth, rising to the level of actual malice as defined in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Actual malice in defamation law refers to publication of a statement with knowledge that it is false or with reckless disregard of whether it is false or not. Your repeated mischaracterization of the Dustin Inman Society, despite having been corrected on numerous occasions, clearly meets this standard.

The Dustin Inman Society’s position on immigration is clear and public:

1. It supports sustainable levels of legal immigration through established channels.

2. It opposes unlawful immigration due to various societal concerns, including: – Strain on public resources and services
– Potential and real public safety issues
– Economic impacts on low-wage American workers and America’s poor

– Challenges to the rule of law

3. The Dustin Inman Society defends legal immigrants when media attempt to blur the difference between them and illegal aliens.

Moreover, the Dustin Inman Society’s board includes lawful immigrants who have navigated the proper channels for authorized immigration. This fact alone should dispel any notion that the organization is “anti-immigration.” As he has informed you multiple times over much of the last two decades, D.A. King’s sister is a real, legal immigrant.

While we acknowledge that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the Dustin Inman Society as an “anti-immigrant hate group that denigrates all immigrants,” your article presents the “anti-immigration hate group” characterization as the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s independent assessment and statement of fact.

This smear is not only demonstrably false and ignores Mr. King’s many communications to you advising you of the truth, but also demonstrates an exceedingly unprofessional failure to fact-check and verify information before publication.

We demand that the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

October 18, 2024 Page 3

1. Immediately publicly retract the defaming statement in the October 7, 2024, article.

2. Publish a prominent apology, equal in visibility and placement to the original defamatory article.

3. Cease and desist from further defamatory characterizations of the Dustin Inman Society.

Failure to comply with these demands may result in further legal action. We expect your prompt attention to this matter and await your timely response.

Sincerely,

Todd V. McMurtry

cc: James Abely, Esq.