Sarah Fuoto’s trip to the Embry Village Plaza Kroger on June 14 and her last-minute decision to support a group of No Kings protesters has changed her life and derailed her career, but not her spirit.
Fuoto, 53, a special education paraprofessional who has worked for nine years in the DeKalb County School District, had just earned her master’s degree and was applying for a position as a special education teacher within the system, a job that would have seen her salary elevated by $30,000 annually.
“I love my job, but at $19,000 a year, it’s not enough to live on,” Fuoto said. “I had been working up to this point for 10 years, with my education and building my confidence.”
Her desire to support young people trying to make a difference has now derailed Fuoto’s career. On her way to Kroger in the late afternoon, she observed a group of people, most in their 20s, participating in a No Kings demonstration, holding signs along Chamblee-Tucker Road. She decided to join them before heading into the store.
Rallies in Downtown and Midtown Atlanta, Tucker, and Decatur were just four of thousands happening across the United States and abroad that day. The protests came amid ongoing raids and arrests by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Los Angeles and other cities.
“I chatted with people for 20 minutes or so and someone gave me an American flag,” she recalled. “I stayed on the sidewalk and personally saw no one block traffic or cause any disturbance. Then a large contingent of police showed up around 5 p.m. in SWAT trucks and with a prison bus.”
An Instagram post by @gafollowersnews shows the chaotic scene when police ordered the protesters to back off the sidewalk, followed by a sweeping view of the area showing that it had been cleared.
A smoke canister was deployed, and Fuoto, disoriented by the haze and the loud noise, said she inadvertently stumbled onto the sidewalk, waving the flag to clear the smoke.
She said one of the officers “tackled me pretty good and smushed me to the ground,” resulting in bruises and scraps to her arms and thighs. After being cuffed, she sat on the curb for several hours before being transported, along with about 20 others, to DeKalb County Jail around 8 p.m.
According to a DeKalb County Police incident report supplied to Rough Draft by Fuoto, she was charged with two misdemeanors: unlawful assembly and obstruction of law enforcement officers. Jail records from DeKalb County Sheriff’s online portal confirm the charges.
According to the incident report, the owners of Embry Village Shopping Center sent an email to the police saying they “appreciate the due diligence and you all putting us on notice regarding the planned protests this weekend.
“As discussed, Embry Village is private property and we will not permit the parking, staging, and rallying for any protests at the center,” the email said.
During her stay in jail, Fuoto, who had never been arrested, said she “went to places I’ve never been and met people that I thought I’d never meet.”
“I also ate the saddest grits I’ve ever had in my life,” she said. “But everyone was really nice and were trying as hard as they could.”
After the arrest, Fuoto said the group expected to be released the following day, but that didn’t happen.
“We had been told by the intake staff that we would be processed quickly and released the next day,” Fuoto said.
The group spent the night in jail on Saturday, but on Sunday Fuoto said she was told by a public defender that none of the group could be released until police signed the arrest warrants, which had not been executed.
According to Georgia Code 17-4-62, “it does not require that a full adversarial hearing be held following a warrantless arrest, but merely seeks to ensure that an arrest and continuing detention of an accused is reviewed by a neutral factfinder and is satisfied when police obtain an arrest warrant within 48 hours of a valid warrantless arrest.”
Fuoto said she was told by the public defender that the warrants were signed 10 minutes before the 48-hour deadline. At a court hearing Tuesday, Fuoto and others were given, according to jail records, an “unsecured judicial release” by Magistrate Court Judge Claire Jason and allowed to leave later that evening.
An unsecured judicial release, also known as a signature bond or release on recognizance, allows a person to be released from jail without having to pay any money up front, according to Georgia Code 17-4-62.
“It was very demoralizing to find out day after day that we weren’t getting out as the intake people had promised,” Fuoto said. “The judge said she was very angry that we had been in jail for all those days.”
The day after her jail release, she interviewed for a special education teaching position at another DeKalb school and was offered the job on June 25. However, on July 1, the offer was rescinded by a DCSD human resources representative because of her arrest.
“I can continue in my current position, but I cannot be promoted while I have an open criminal matter, even though I am accused of misdemeanors that would not disqualify me if convicted. I cannot even apply for another promotion until the charges are resolved,” Fuoto said.
Fuoto has retained attorney Drago Cepar regarding her criminal case, who made repeated requests to speak to the solicitor’s office about its status and got no response.
“Finally, we reached out to [DeKalb] county commissioner [Ted] Terry and his office on July 10, who contacted the solicitor’s office asking them to respond to my attorney,” she said. “My attorney then heard from Clay Thompson from the solicitor’s office. He stated that this case is still in the early stages and that they are still reviewing all the video footage and did not give a timeline for when they would make a decision [on whether to pursue or dismiss the case].”
According to the Georgia Criminal Statute of Limitations laws, misdemeanor cases can be in the system for up to two years after an arrest is made before being adjudicated.
Rough Draft has reached out to Cepar for comment regarding Fuoto’s case. He is out of the country, but said he would respond as soon as possible as to next steps in her defense.
Rough Draft reached out to the DeKalb Solicitor’s Office with a list of questions about the June 14 arrests, including asking for clarification about the timing of the execution of the arrest warrants and a status report on the disposition of the cases.
According to Leslie Peters, the public relations manager of the solicitor general’s office, “charges against Ms. Fuoto are still pending.”
“As to the other questions you asked, we are unable to answer and would invite you to contact the appropriate agencies for further details,” Peters said. “You can contact DeKalb County Police for more information about warrants and the arrest process and you can contact the Office of the DeKalb CEO for a status update on their investigation.”
Following protests on Chamblee-Tucker Road, DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson on June 17 announced a comprehensive review of law enforcement actions taken during the demonstrations, according to a post on the county’s website.
“We will always uphold the right to peacefully protest in DeKalb County,” said CEO Cochran-Johnson in the release. “At the same time, we have a responsibility to protect the safety of our residents, our officers, and the broader community. I stand firmly by my earlier message — and want the public to know that we are conducting a full and transparent review of all law enforcement actions taken.”
DeKalb County is working with the DeKalb County Police Department to review police reports, arrest records, body-worn camera footage, and aerial drone video.
Cochran-Johnson said in the release that “initial aerial images from the day of the protest confirmed movement toward a nearby interstate ramp, contributing to the need for crowd control and intervention.”
Rough Draft reached out to Cochran-Johnson’s Chief of Communications Dionna Smith for comment about the investigation and its findings, but has not received a reply to a list of questions.
Fuoto has retained Clare Norins, the director of the First Amendment Clinic in Athens, GA, who said Fuoto may have a civil case regarding the incident, depending on the outcome of the police investigation.
“Sarah did her best to comply with the police, but it was a very confused scene,” Norins said. “It appears that the police did not give clear instructions as to where the crowd was to move.”
While in limbo, Fuoto is concentrating on her paraprofessional job and hoping that the incident does not forever mar her dreams of being a special education teacher.
“Being with the children keeps me focused instead of feeling so depressed about having a criminal record,” she said. “There is the shame of being arrested that’s hard to think about.”
As for her actions on June 14, Fuoto said she doesn’t regret supporting “young people who have a passion,” just as she has championed her special-needs students.
“Although I am afraid, I would do it again, officially this time,” she said.
