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Facebook video lands Burke County man in jail for ‘eavesdropping’
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Facebook video lands Burke County man in jail for ‘eavesdropping’

WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A Burke County man has been jailed and charged with a felony after a Facebook live video he filmed was viewed thousands of times.

The video was shot by Jeremy Huffman and shows a group of people standing off to the side.

Huffman shot the video on her property.

In court Friday, Huffman was accused of eavesdropping.

The I-TEAM was present at the court and spoke with Huffman’s family. The I-TEAM also heard from the Burke County sheriff.

Kevin Bradley Trammell

Huffman shot the video on Thursday.

In the video, Huffman leaned a ladder against a tree on his property, climbed up and began filming.

A large crowd of people, tents and loud music could be seen.

“The Burke County Sheriff’s Office is probably going to take me to jail or do something to me,” Huffman said in the video.

About 45 minutes later, Burke County deputies were at Huffman’s home.

While on scene, deputies said they encountered a complainant who reported suspicious activity near the property.

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According to a press release by the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, the complainant was in his tent on the property when he heard noises coming from the wooded area next to his location.

Upon investigation, the complainant discovered a person named Huffman in a nearby tree.

According to the press release, Huffman allegedly recorded the complainant and his surroundings with his cell phone.

In Huffman’s video, you can hear deputies ordering him to exit the tree.

Huffman climbed the tree and was arrested and charged with eavesdropping, a felony.

This was one of several calls involving both landowners over the past year, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

On Friday, Huffman was in court for a bail hearing where a judge set her at $2,500 bail.

The I-TEAM was with Huffman’s family and attorney, who said they were moving aggressively to get the charges dropped.

Jamier Kenneth Humphries

“I’ve never seen anything like it. There is nothing criminal here. His arrest is not consistent with the law under which they arrested him. There is no crime. He was on his own property and doing what he was allowed to do. He didn’t snoop and he didn’t do anything against this law, period. This was an erroneous arrest by law enforcement. This has no material or legal basis. “It was on his own property,” said Huffman’s attorney, Christopher Connell.

Connell says it’s all confusing to him.

“I am confused. I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen anything like this, but I’ve been doing this for 30 years and this is all very different and new to me,” Connell said.

Sheriff Alfonzo Williams posted his own Facebook Live video on the sheriff’s office Facebook page to share his side of the arrest.

“I am being as open, transparent and simple as I can be. I’m not taking any sides here. I stand for what is legal,” Williams said in the Facebook live video.

Williams noted several past incident reports.

“In most cases, Mr. Huffman is making fun of these people. In some cases, they found that there was more than one speaker at the edge of the property and the music was excessively loud. Even though there are no regulations against this, it makes the problem worse,” Williams said.

Huffman’s family reported to Burke County that their neighbors were frequently shooting guns.

As for Huffman, her family says she cut ties Friday evening.

The I-TEAM continues to gather more information about the county ordinance, Huffman’s felony charge and who the group living next door is.