Anti-Black Lives Matter confrontation ends with guilty plea
![James Stachowiak posted video of himself on Twitter at a Dec. 9 rally for U.S. Sen. David Perdue. The extremist is charged with disorderly conduct after an incident that day at a grocery store. [Screenshot/James Stachowiak]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/CCXl1n3PLKPpGuPO5vlezg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD0yMjA4/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-augusta-chronicle/423f208f56b98672147b682ead4bc868)
A Columbia County man who got into a confrontation while wearing an anti-Black Lives Matter shirt entered a plea Monday to terroristic threats.
James Stachowiak, 61, entered an Alford plea – a plea in which the accused doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges enough evidence exists for conviction – in Columbia County Superior Court.
Stachowiak was initially charged with a single count of disorderly conduct as a county ordinance violation, but the case was upgraded to two felony counts at indictment in February.
More: Bond granted to anti-Black Lives Matter proponent indicted on felony charges
Stachowiak was initially charged after a Dec. 9, 2020, confrontation in a grocery store. The victim and witnesses reported he was wearing a provocative T-shirt and an argument broke out. Stachowiak pulled a baton out and told the victim he also had a gun and knew how to use it, said Assistant District Attorney Kevin Majeska.
Stachowiak previously came to public attention for videos of himself outside a local Mosque making threats while holding a weapon, making news in 2015 when he showed up a a recruiting office carrying an assault rifle and pistol, and expressing racist sentiments at a 2016 Stacey Abrams rally with veterans.
After spending about a month in jail before he was able to get bond, Stachowiak has changed, defense attorney Amanda Keen said. He hasn't made a single comment on social media since he got out of jail, she said, and his days of provocative speech are over. Stachowiak did pull the baton but he did so after the victim told him he was going to get hurt wearing that shirt, Keen said. The victim was much younger and stronger that Stachowiak and he felt threatened, she said.
Chief Judge James G. Blanchard accepted the negotiated plea and sentenced Stachowiak to five years probation with a $250 fine.
Blanchard urged Stachowiak to give up what others view as hate speech. "If we don't make peace in this nation we are going to destroy this nation."
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Plea entered in anti-Black Lives Matter shirt incident
