Deaf vlogger and FFL firearms dealer arrested for family violence and terroristic threats
A well-known deaf vlogger and a FFL licensed firearms dealer, Michael Clegg, 46, from Georgia, was arrested on Sunday, December 8 and accused of being violent to his wife and two daughters, ages 12 and 10. He was charged with aggravated assault, third-degree cruelty to children, battery/family violence, simple battery, and with making terroristic threats and acts.
The news of this arrest was on several Georgia news outlets and has been covered by The Deaf Report and Sign1News.
We will share information that we got from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. In an incident report, deputies responded to Michael’s home on a report of domestic violence. They talked with the 10-year-old daughter, who acted as an interpreter for Michael’s wife, Kimberly, who is also deaf.
Kimberly said that Michael and her got into an argument after Michael threatened to “kill and paralyze” the younger daughter. Later on, Kimberly took a bowl of chili to clean up, but Michael became angry about it, telling her to not touch it, and that argument led to a physical struggle that involved both parents and their older daughter. The bowl of chili ended up breaking and it cut Michael’s hand, then Kimberly said he threw it towards her. Deputies reported that there was chili splattered on the living room floor and walls.
Kimberly said Michael then choked her around her neck and that she scratched his neck to try and defend herself. Kimberly’s side said that Michael punched the older daughter in the face, but the deputies did not see any “visible injuries” on her face.
Kimberly and both daughters then hid in a bedroom. The incident report explained that earlier in the day, Michael shoved the younger daughter’s head back and bent her arm backwards to try and break it because he was angry that she wouldn’t stop touching him. Kimberly then tried to intervene, which made Michael angry. Kimberly then used a broom to try and defend herself, but Michael took the broom away and used it to hit her head and pushed it to choke her. Again, this is in the incident report.
Michael was held at Columbia County Detention Center on a $18,500 bond and has been released. We reached out to him to provide comments. He sent a video and we’ve edited it down.
MICHAEL CLEGG:
The police was called by my 12-year-old daughter. I went outside because I was in serious pain from all of my cuts and bruises. It was because of the sudden physical situation where I had to protect them and defend myself at the same time. So I waited and the police got here in about seven minutes. An officer looked at me with concern and said I was bleeding. Look at those cuts. There are many. I was meek and told police that I wanted to use a pen and paper, but was told no because a pen can be a weapon. I accepted this. I requested an interpreter, but nothing happened. The police depended on my 10-year-old daughter to explain what happened with her voice. I tried to FaceTime with my mother so she could interpret, but the police had already set their mind to arrest me. I had a bad firsthand experience in jail. There was no access. I couldn’t use the phone, there was no interpreter, and I got a TTY three hours later after many delays. I asked them if they knew how to use it. They said no and they had no practice on it. I used the TTY and called their number, and they couldn’t understand it at all. So how can other people understand me? They were taken aback. I’m also a vegan, and I was hungry, and the food that I got had meat and dairy. I was starving. I stayed for maybe 38 hours in total. If you look at me and think I don’t care about my 10-year-old daughter, this is not true. My heart breaks, it is crushed. My lawyer asked me what outcome I wanted. I said I wanted my family to be together before Christmas and he nodded. I also said we must have therapy all the way, both individual and family therapy. We must have this, there is no choice. I would prefer to have a court order for all of us to have therapy. I’d be ok with this and do it. You all in the Deaf community, yes there are many negative comments and criticism, but I’m ignoring you all. For those of you who feel empathy, I’m asking you to pray for us as we go through healing and go through the court process. I have faith in the justice system. I have faith. I have hope that everything will be good and for my family too. To be honest, domestic violence has broken us down. We’ve been building this for a long time and it’s all come crashing down. It’s ugly, very ugly. It hurts. We need to heal and become strong. Also find the right therapist and figure out how to share feelings with each other and gain understanding.
RENCA:
Michael said he has an attorney to represent him and they are seeking to dismiss the charges because he did not have his Miranda rights read to him.
Clearly, this is a very serious situation. If convicted, Michael faces up to 20 years in prison for the aggravated assault charge, and up to 10 years for the terroristic threats charge. This would also have an impact on Michael’s ability to carry and sell firearms.
https://www.wfxg.com/2019/12/09/man-arrested-after-dispute-through-sign-language-turns-violent-police-say/
https://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20191209/columbia-county-man-accused-of-beating-threatening-wife-and-children
http://p2c.columbiacountyso.org/Summary.aspx
https://thedeafreport.com/home/2019/12/9/michael-clegg-accused-of-beating-wife-and-children
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JGY9iG_hwA