Florida DUI suspect heard on camera threatening black officer: ‘My KKK friends will burn your family’
Police said the woman levied the threats while being arrested.
Volusia County Sheriff’s Office
A Florida woman suspected of driving under the influence was heard on camera making racist threats toward a black police officer, according to body camera footage.
Police said the woman, identified as 53-year-old Julie Edwards, levied the threats last Friday night while being investigated for a DUI in Volusia County, Florida, about 50 miles northeast of Orlando, according to charging documents released this week.
Edwards allegedly threatened a Volusia County sheriff’s deputy “with a visit from the KKK, a cross burning in his yard and harm to him and his family,” the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Tuesday. The woman is not seen in the footage, but can be heard making the threats.
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While the arresting officer was completing paperwork, Edwards said she hoped to find the deputy, who is black, in a corner alone, according to body camera audio released by the sheriff’s office.
“Keep it up boy,” she said, according to the footage. “I will find you one day in a corner.”
When the deputy asked her if she was “making a threat to a law enforcement officer,” she responded, “I won’t find you. My KKK people will.
“You f—— with the wrong white people,” she said. “KKK’s got your a– boy.”
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She said the Ku Klux Klan would be burning crosses on his property and said black people should’ve never been let out of slavery, according to the body camera footage.
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“My KKK friends will burn your family. Should never be here in the first place,” she said.
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She was charged with DUI, prior refusal to submit to testing, resisting an officer without violence and threats against a law enforcement officer, according to an arrest affidavit.
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“Deputy King is of African-American descent and knows the history behind the KKK and the pain and torture they have caused and still cause to African-Americans today,” the affidavit said. “Deputy King does not know Edwards and does not know her capabilities and takes the threat to be serious. Edwards was additionally charged with threats against a law enforcement officer, 1st offense.”
Edwards was arrested on Feb. 8, and taken to the Volusia County Jail, but she was no longer in custody as of Thursday evening, court records show.
She is scheduled to appear in court on March 6. It’s unclear if she has retained an attorney.
Woman arrested for DUI goes on racist rant, threatens deputy with KKK visit, report says
Photo: Volusia County Sheriff’s Office
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VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WZTV) — A Florida woman faces charges after she can be heard on body camera footage threatening a Volusia County deputy with racist remarks and a visit from the Ku Klux Klan.
Deputy King was sent to Montgomery Street in Deland, Florida on reports of a disturbance at 11:50 p.m. on February 7. Dispatchers said someone was leaving in a black, Lexus passenger car.
The deputy noticed the car with headlights on reversing into the property. He found Julie Edwards, 53, in the vehicle and smelled alcohol on her breath as she spoke to him with slurred speech.
He asked if she would consent to field sobriety exercises, which she declined. The deputy placed Edwards under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to the police report, Edwards refused to cooperate with two deputies. Authorities eventually sat her down in Deputy King’s patrol vehicle.
As the deputy was completing paperwork, reports claim that Edwards told the deputy she hoped to find him alone in a corner and that the Ku Klux Klan would be seeing the deputy and burning crosses on his property.
“Deputy King is of African American descent and knows the history and violence behind the KKK towards minorities, especially the African American community,” the police report reads. “Deputy King does not know Edwards, who she associates with, or who she interacts with. Deputy King took Edwards threat towards him to be true.”
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood released body camera footage of the ordeal, saying “Watch this video if you need any more proof that there’s no expiration date on ignorance.”
Warning: The video contains offensive language.
In the video, a woman can be heard saying “I won’t find you, somebody else will.” The deputy then asks if she is making a threat toward a law enforcement officer.
Edwards responds, “I didn’t say I’d find you. I said somebody else will. I won’t find you. My KKK people will.”
While working on a lap top, the deputy says, “Alright. Thank you for that threat. I’ll add that charge in here.”
Word of an additional charge doesn’t seem to stop Edwards.
“I didn’t say it about you. I said they know people like you. I didn’t say you,” Edwards said in the video. “Hey, ain’t a damn thing wrong with a burning cross in your yard is there? You [expletive] with the wrong white people. You [expletive] up. I hope you don’t have no kids.”
Video shows the deputy listening to country music and driving away with Edwards in the back seat as she blurts out racist threats.
“KKK’s got your [expletive], boy” Edwards can be heard saying in the video. “My KKK friends will burn your family [] Have you ever been whipped on a whipping post?”
Sheriff Chitwood defended his deputy on Facebook.
“Kudos to Deputy King for his calm response to all the racist garbage this KKK Enthusiast could throw at him,” Chitwood said. “All law enforcement officers learn to deal with people at their worst, but this level of ignorance is something else.”
Edwards was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, prior refusal to submit to testing, resisting an officer without violence and with threats against a law enforcement officer.
She was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail with a bond of $2,500.
Florida woman tells black deputy her KKK friends will ‘burn your a**’
by: WFLA 8 On Your Side Staff
Posted: Feb 14, 2019 / 07:11 PM EST
Updated: Feb 16, 2019 / 06:04 PM EST
A Florida woman who was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving told the black deputy who detained her that the Ku Klux Klan was going to burn crosses in front of his home, authorities said.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office released a body camera video of the racist outburst on Thursday.
“Watch this if you need any more proof there’s no expiration date on ignorance,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.
In the video, 53-year-old Julie Edwards is heard making verbal threats to the officer as he fills out paperwork.
“I won’t find you, somebody else will,” she said.
“You making a threat to a law enforcement officer?” the officer replied.
“No, I didn’t say that,” Edwards said in response.
“So what do you mean you’ll find me one day?” the officer asked.
“I didn’t say I’d find you, I said somebody else will,” she said, adding: “I won’t find you. The KKK people will.”
“All right, thank you for that threat,” the officer said. “I’ll add that charge in here, too.”
Edwards went on to say the deputy was “f***** with the wrong white people” and that she hoped he wasn’t a father.
“You know what’s going to happen to you now? You don’t want to know. You’re done. You’re f*****. They’re gonna hurt you bad,” she continued.
Further along in her tirade, Edwards mentioned the Ku Klux Klan, saying that the group would burn crosses in front of his home and that “n****** should have never been let out of slavery.”
“KKK’s got you’re a**, boy,” Edwards said. “Burn your a**.”
Edwards was arrested for resisting an officer without violence, driving under the influence, making a threat against law enforcement and refusing to submit to testing.
She was booked into the Volusia County Jail and later released on bond.
The deputy was praised for keeping his composure.
“The composure the officer had was amazing,” wrote Twitter user Kristyn Pippin.
“His response was exemplary,” wrote another Twitter user.
