Georgia
Georgia attorney sentenced for storming Capitol on Jan. 6
WASHINGTON – A Georgia attorney who joined the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and then went on social media to brag about breaking into then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has been sentenced.
William McCall Calhoun, Jr., 60, of Americus, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
Calhoun’s social media accounts referenced his alleged ability to fire sniper headshots, and called for the “slaughter” of political enemies, FBI Special Agent Tim Armentrout testified. Calhoun bragged on social media that he was among the first rioters to break into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office on Jan. 6, and predicted the powerful Democrat “probably would have been torn into little pieces” if rioters had found her there, prosecutors said.
“We occupied the Capitol and shut down the Government — we shut down their stolen election shenanigans,” Calhoun wrote, according to a sworn statement from an FBI agent. “I was there and saw it all. My buddy Andy Nalley and I were in the first two hundred to rush up the steps and inside after the Vanguard had clashed hard with the police and had made them retreat.”
Calhoun wrote he was going to Washington “to give the GOP some back bone” as the House and Senate met to certify the November election won by Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.
Calhoun, who described himself as a practicing attorney in Americus for 30 years who primarily handled criminal defense cases, was arrested on Jan. 15, 2021, in Macon.
Prosecutors were able to draw a line from his appearance at the “Stop the Steal” rally to his entering the Capitol. As he approached the Senate Wing Door, Calhoun stated, “This is it. We’re storming the Capitol.”
One video depicts Calhoun amongst other rioters who pounded on doors and walls as they passed by members’ offices. Calhoun stated in the video that they were “looking for people.” Calhoun ultimately made it to the outside of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Office.
Calhoun was sentenced in March after a bench trial.
He was also ordered this week to serve 24 months of supervised release and pay restitution of $2,000.
This story is being reported out of Georgia. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Georgia
Georgia police arrest two opposition leaders at protest
Georgian police arrested two opposition leaders during a street protest against the ruling party on Sunday, a moved quickly denounced by the European Union, which condemned Tbilisi’s “brutal crackdown”.
The Black Sea nation has been rocked by daily mass protests since the Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October parliamentary elections rejected by the opposition as falsified.
Its critics accuse the government of democratic backsliding and of moving Tbilisi closer to Russia.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s announcement on November 28 that his cabinet would not pursue the opening of European Union membership talks with Brussels until 2028 further fuelled the demonstrations.
On Sunday, police detained the leader of the liberal pro-European Akhali party, Nika Melia, and former Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava, a prominent opposition figure, an AFP reporter saw.
The arrests — condemned by the EU’s top diplomat — were made as thousands of demonstrators attempted to block a highway entrance to the capital, Tbilisi.
Melia told journalists that a senior police official had kicked him while in the police station.
Melia’s lawyer said that the politician was “arrested on an administrative offence charge” and released from custody shortly after midnight after signing a written promise to appear in court.
Both Melia and Ugulava had spent years in prison under Georgian Dream’s rule on charges that rights groups have denounced as politically motivated.
Several other people were also detained during the protest, with at least one appearing to have been injured.
The independent TV station Pirveli aired footage showing police brutally beating detained protesters.
– ‘Democracy on the line’ –
Late on Sunday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas blasted the arrests.
“The brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters, journalists and politicians tonight in Tbilisi is unacceptable,” Kallas wrote on X.
“Georgia falls short of any expectation from a candidate country. The EU stands with the people of Georgia in their fight for freedom and democracy,” she added.
Georgia’s rights ombudsman, Levan Ioseliani, warned in a statement of “instances of mistreatment and excessive use of force by the police against citizens, journalists, and politicians”.
At the protest itself, 22-year-old university student Kote Baramia, told AFP: “All this police violence just proves the government is scared.
“Georgians will not back down, our democracy is on the line.”
The head of the Tbilisi police special task department, Zviad Kharazishvili — sanctioned by Britain and the United States for human rights violations — was heard hurling obscenities at demonstrators.
Demonstrators marched for kilometres towards the parliament building, the site of their daily protests, blocking traffic along Tbilisi’s main avenue.
Before the rally, the interior ministry issued a statement warning demonstrators that blocking the highway “is a criminal offence punishable by up to four years in prison”.
In the first wave of protests that began in late November, riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds, arresting more than 400 demonstrators, according to the interior ministry.
Ioseliani — Georgia’s top human-rights official — and Amnesty International have accused police of torturing those arrested.
– Unprecedented crisis –
Georgian rights activists have denounced what they say is a mounting campaign of intimidation, beatings and arrests against those taking to the streets.
Tbilisi’s security forces and judiciary have faced persistent accusations of repression against the ruling party’s opponents.
The Georgian Dream government faces growing international isolation and mounting claims of democratic backsliding.
On Monday, Brussels suspended visa-free travel to the EU for Georgian diplomats and officials. It cited the adoption of several repressive laws and the “violent repression by Georgian authorities against peaceful protesters, politicians, and independent media”.
Last year, the United States and several European countries imposed sanctions on Georgian officials, pointing to the Tbilisi government’s drift toward Russia and its violent crackdown on protesters and dissent following the disputed election.
Besides the largest anti-government protest movement in its history, Georgia is also grappling with an unprecedented constitutional crisis, as the opposition refuses to enter the newly elected parliament.
Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili has declared both the legislature and the government illegitimate.
Her successor — ruling party loyalist and far-right politician Mikheil Kavelashvili — was inaugurated on December 29 following a controversial election procedure, but Zurabishvili has insisted that she remains the legitimate leader.
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Georgia
Tide Roll over Georgia 90-69
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – The 4th ranked Alabama Men’s Basketball team extended its winning streak to five straight with a convincing 90-69 over Georgia in front of a sold out crowd inside Coleman Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Mark Sears collected his 13th game of 20 or more points this season, as he led the The Crimson Tide (19-3, 8-1 SEC) with a game high 20 points to go along with six assists and five boards. Grant Nelson secured his team-leading sixth double-double in the win, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds and a career high five blocks. Aiden Sherrell (12), Aden Holloway (10) and Chris Youngblood (10) also scored in double figures in the victory.
Georgia (15-7, 3-6 SEC) was led by Asa Newell, who scored 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds.
“Unbelievable effort from our guys, really the effort we’ve been looking for outside of the start to the second half. You take that four minutes out, which I wasn’t really happy with that effort, but the other 36 minutes, I thought we played really hard,” Alabama Head Coach Nate Oats said postgame.
“Outrebounded a really good team by 16 and still scored 20 even though we had 20 turnovers. Now, we’ve got to fix the turnovers. Obviously, it’s a major problem, and 12 of those 20 were from three of our fifth-year seniors, which shouldn’t be the case, but I thought those guys kind of set the tone.”
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Georgia
Former Georgia 5-star OL emerges at Senior Bowl
MOBILE, Ala. — Clay Webb has a Georgia national championship ring. It’s stuffed in a safety deposit box, where he can’t show it off. He has no desire to do so.
It’s a reminder of lost playing time, a lawsuit and giving up on a career that analysts had thought of as a sure thing.
“Three and a half years ago, I never imagined playing football again,” Webb said. “I kind of thought my dream was over.”
And yet Webb is at the Senior Bowl, a guard outdueling Kentucky’s Deone Walker, a possible first-round NFL draft pick, because of a short drive he made to see if Jacksonville State, the FCS school near his home, had any interest in a former five-star offensive lineman.
Webb was a consensus five-star, rated No. 26 nationally by the 247Sports Composite in the 2019 class, seven spots ahead of Bo Nix and nine spots ahead of Jayden Daniels, both now thriving NFL quarterbacks.
Webb enrolled early at Georgia and played in four games as a true freshman. Then, in early in 2020, Webb was sued as one of three defendants accused of a bullying incident in 2018 at Oxford (Ala.) High School. Another then-student at the high school accused Webb of making him drink a cup with semen in it. The federal lawsuit has still not been resolved, and Webb said Wednesday his lawyers have told him not to comment on it. (The University of Georgia released a statement in 2020 that read: “While we cannot comment on this individual student matter, we review allegations of misconduct by our student-athletes and hold accountable those that do not meet our expectations.” UGA did not respond to messages this week when reached by The Athletic.)
Webb had trouble cracking the Georgia lineup and appeared in just three games the next season. The following season he didn’t play at all, sometimes not even suiting up as Georgia won the national championship.
“I just felt like I wasn’t needed at Georgia,” Webb said.
So he entered the transfer portal after spring practice, but without any real plans. He said he wanted to be with his family, as his grandfather was battling health problems, having his leg amputated. Webb supported his grandfather and mother and mulled his own future.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” he said. “At that point in my life there was a lot of stuff going on. I was trying to figure things out as a man, what my dreams were.”
Webb decided football wasn’t completely off his mind. He doesn’t remember how long he considered himself retired — “it was awhile” — but at some point the summer of 2022 he made the 25-minute drive to Jacksonville State, just showing up and asking if the Gamecocks had any interest. The offensive line coach was, and still is, Rick Trickett, who has coached nearly 40 future pros in his long career, including the 2013 Florida State national champions. Trickett gave Webb an on-the-spot tryout — in the hallway of the Jacksonville State offices.
“I wanna see you do some snaps first,” Trickett said, according to Webb.
So Webb, wearing blue jeans and whatever shirt he picked that day, made a good impression.
Webb didn’t start until the fifth game of his first season. But once he did, he stuck in the lineup, starting the next two seasons, making Conference USA first team in 2024, and getting another ring — when Jacksonville State won the conference championship. That ring, Webb said, means more to him than the Georgia national one.
“Football means a whole lot to me, and it’s been something special in my life for a whole long time,” he said. “But at that point (after leaving Georgia) I was thinking maybe I’m not good enough, or maybe wasn’t able to do this for a living.”
Rich Rodriguez was Jacksonville State’s head coach until returning to West Virginia after this last season.
“I loved coaching Clay,” Rodriguez said through a university spokesman. “He works really hard, has a hard edge and was one of our most consistent players at Jacksonville State. He has a humble personality, is an outstanding player and will be a real asset to any team in the NFL.”
To that end, Webb got the Senior Bowl invite. An AFC scout attending the Senior Bowl, given anonymity in order to be candid, offered this up to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler on Webb: “He was fine when I saw him in September. But his name kept popping up midseason so I revisited him and thought he was getting better and better. And I think that’s continued here. Good to see him at center during practice. Strong dude.”
Webb was asked if he feels again like the guy who was a five-star.
“No. I believe I’ve learned from that point,” he said. “Not to care about rankings, but who I am as a person, and how better I can get every day.”
(Photo of Webb (left) at the Senior Bowl: Vasha Hunt / Imagn Images)
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