Jonesboro mayor accused of pointing loaded gun at city employee

JONESBORO, Ga. — Jonesboro Mayor Donya Sartor says there is an onslaught of allegations that are politically motivated.

“There was no reason to believe that this was a threat,” she said.

Mayor Sartor says she’s being accused of pointing a loaded gun at a city employee.

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“I unlocked the drawer, grabbed the handgun, and transferred it, and I commented that I want to make sure, I don’t leave it here because it was the end of the day,” Sartor said.

Mayor Sartor showed Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln what happened in her office on August 29.

She says she was working with Jonesboro Police Lieutenant Godreque Newsom on an administrative matter.

When reaching in her drawer for a ruler, she says she was moving her handgun to her purse and never pointed the weapon or threatened Lt. Newsom.

“He didn’t flinch, he didn’t reach for his gun because I would have said ‘What are you reaching for your gun for,’” she said.

Lt. Newsom feels differently.

He told Lincoln over the phone he was in fear for his safety.

In a letter Newsom sent to Police Chief Tommy Henderson he says the mayor pointed the gun in his direction when taking it out of the drawer. He says it was an unexpected action that left him feeling assaulted and in fear.

Sartor says the Lieutenant never expressed his alarm about the incident.

She showed Channel 2 Action News surveillance video of the Lieutenant leaving her office where she says he did not appear like he was in fear.

Channel 2 Action News learned after Chief Henderson was notified, that the Jonesboro City Council held an executive meeting excluding Mayor Sartor.

During that meeting, Sartor says the council voted to ban her from entering the facility.

“Asking for my property is an indirect way of asking me to step down,” Sartor said.

Sartor says after several attempts to meet with city leaders she went to the state.

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A Clayton County judge issued a temporary order on Tuesday overriding city council’s ruling.

According to documents Channel 2 obtained, the judge explains a ruling will be made after both sides attend a hearing on September 29.

Sartor says she carries a weapon on her since getting elected as Jonesboro’s first African American mayor because she’s received several threats.

“There’s currently no law, that prohibits me as an elected official, that prohibits me from bringing in a firearm into the building,” she said.

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