Douglasville police are investigating a Saturday afternoon incident that, according to witnesses, involved a convoy of Confederate flag-bearing trucks interrupting a black child’s birthday party with racial epithets and threats of violence.
One of at least two cellphone videos from the incident shows Douglasville police officers holding back a group of black men and women as at least seven pickup trucks drive off. The trucks’ white passengers wave as the Confederate, American and military flags mounted on the vehicles flap in the air. .
“This is a child’s birthday party,” one woman in the crowd can be heard saying.
A second video shows the trucks gathered on a grassy area, and the N-word can be heard. A woman who shared the video said the trucks were on her property and their passengers were armed and threatened to “kill y’all [N-words].”
“I don’t mind them riding with their flags but I don’t want them going around threaten[ing] people in their yard like they did mine or harassing folks either,” the woman, Melissa Alford, wrote on Facebook.
In an emailed statement, the Douglasville Police Department said it was initially notified about the convoy of trucks when it entered the area from nearby Paulding County. Officers followed the trucks “for a distance” but backed off after not seeing “any criminal or traffic infractions.”
A short time later, police were called to the area of Chapel Hill Road and Hospital Drive, where “those in the convoy [were] in an argument with those who were having a birthday party” at a nearby residence.
“Officers on scene were given conflicting statements as to what led up to the confrontation,” the police department’s statement said. “Officers identified all involved and arrested one person that was a passenger in the convoy of trucks on unrelated charges.
“We do not have any evidence of any shots being fired nor were there any reports of a physical altercation taking place. There were not any injuries reported.”
The department said Monday afternoon that it was reviewing video of the incident to see if any criminal activity occurred.