Being a police officer meant the world to James. He was born and raised in Atlanta, and saw his job as a way to help his neighbors. But if Fani Willis has her way... life in prison could be his reward.
Our nightmare started more than eight years ago, when an off-duty police officer radioed in about a man breaking into a parked car at an apartment complex.
Then the officer stopped responding. Dispatch issued a distress call, and all available units rushed over.
My husband was closest to the scene, so he arrived first. When he got there, he saw a running car parked facing the wrong way on a one-way street. With his emergency lights on, James got out to investigate.
That's when it happened.
The suspect saw my husband, slammed on the gas, and drove straight at him.
James was certain the man was intentionally trying to run him over.
With only a split second to think, James drew his weapon and fired a single shot at the vehicle bearing down on him. It struck the suspect, who died instantly.
James was shaken by the incident, but thankfully he was unhurt. He went home, certain he had done everything by the book. So you can imagine our shock when James found out he was being charged with murder!
James was forced to turn himself in, and spent the night locked up in jail in solitary confinement. They treated him like a common criminal. They even kept him in a straitjacket!
We all thought this was a giant misunderstanding -- just a soft-on-crime District Attorney trying to make a name for themselves by targeting a police officer.
We couldn't have been more wrong.
You see, James is white, and the suspect he shot was black. So the woke, anti-police prosecutors in Atlanta have made it their mission to destroy my husband.
For eight years now, these radical prosecutors -- and the woke mob who helped get them elected -- have dragged my husband's name through the mud.
The District Attorney at the time held press conferences bragging about how tough they were for going after my husband. They even campaigned on putting my James behind bars!
Every time James has to appear at the Fulton County Courthouse for a hearing, angry protesters show up carrying giant signs with James' mugshot on them, with "MURDERER" scribbled across his face in red spray paint.
Now you understand why I'm so upset and why I'm turning to you for help.
James is an honest, hardworking, good-hearted man who only wants to help people.
He's the guy everyone calls when a broken faucet floods their kitchen, or when their car breaks down.
When he was younger, he spent years traveling to dangerous Third-World countries to help needy people -- places like South Sudan, Madagascar, Liberia, and Haiti. And it was that same selflessness that drove James to become a police officer and graduate the police academy near the top of his class.
My husband is exactly the kind of man you want keeping your city safe.
But none of that matters to radical prosecutors like Fani Willis. She knows what happened that night. She knows James was in a life-or-death situation. She knows that the charge should have been dropped years ago.
But Fani Willis doesn't care.
She just wants to make an example out of my husband. For years, we've been trapped in limbo.
James' police department just threw us away. There's supposed to be this bond of brotherhood in law enforcement. But his fellow officers were forbidden to talk to him -- and the higher-ups fired him before the investigation was even finished.
We've lost nearly all our friends, and we've even been forced to move because of the terrible lies the prosecutors have been spreading about my husband.
It's been nearly impossible for James to get a job with these charges hanging over him.
By some miracle, we've been able to get by, but every day is difficult. And what's been truly overwhelming is the cost of James' legal defense.
As you can imagine, gifts are the last thing on my family's mind during Christmas - we are just fighting to keep him home for the holidays.
My friend, we aren't wealthy people. James' father had to empty his retirement account. Other relatives have sold family heirlooms. We've put nearly every penny we can scrape together into this case.
And it still hasn't been enough.
I know this is how Fani Willis and the radical prosecutors in her office are trying to punish my husband. They're dragging this out as long as possible to break our family.
We spend our days grateful to still have James at home, at the same time terrified that these will be our last moments together as a family.
Earlier this year, we ran out of money. James was about to turn to a public defender. We had all but given up hope... And then we got a call from Jason Johnson, the President of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, or LELDF.
If you've ever heard of LELDF, you know they're a national group fighting on behalf of wrongfully-accused police officers like James.
LELDF has helped dozens of innocent officers -- and their families – at their lowest moment.
And we were at our lowest moment!
Not only did the LELDF board decide to help my husband get the legal defense he deserves, they're also raising money to pay for the best attorneys so James can finally clear his name.
That's why I'm writing to you today to ask you one of the toughest questions I've ever asked anyone...
Could you send a contribution today to help defend James?
His legal team needs to be working day and night to get ready to defeat Fani Willis' team and get my husband declared NOT GUILTY once and for all.
I know that times are tough right now. And if we had any other options, I wouldn't be so bold as to ask for help from a stranger, especially during the holidays.
But like I mentioned earlier, we have nowhere else to turn. And I'm so scared for what will happen to my husband.
You know how police officers are treated behind bars. If James is convicted, it's basically a death sentence.
So, if you're at all able, would you consider making a tax-deductible donation of $35, $50, $100, or even $500 or $1,000 to LELDF to help wrongfully-accused officers like James?
LELDF is a non-profit organization. So your gift is tax-deductible.
And it's your $35 gift that could make the difference between defeating Fani Willis and the radical anti-police prosecutors on her team -- and my husband spending the rest of his life in prison.
I'm sorry this e-mail turned out so long. Thank you for taking the time to read about my husband. And thank you in advance for helping my James.
