A Long County man was arrested in a neighboring county over the use of a racial slur in a public park. The man said the word was directed at his friends, but the individuals who called the police reported otherwise.
Trent Reddish was arrested by the Hinesville Police Department on May 30. The incident involved a number of parties at a community park in Hinesville.
From the incident report written by Hinesville Patrol Officer E. Siegel:
ON 5/30/2026 AT 2027 HOURS, I WAS DISPATCHED TO KREBS COMMUNITY PARK (1578 AIRPORT RD) IN REFERENCE TO A DISTURBANCE. UPON ARRIVAL, LT EWING 164 AND I MADE CONTACT WITH ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░, WHO STATED SHE WAS AT THE PARK WITH HER BOYFRIEND, ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░, WHO IS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE. THERE WAS A PERSON PLAYING BEHIND THEM WHO SAID,”NIGGA.” ░░░░░░ STATED HER AND HER BOYFRIEND WENT TO ASK THE INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS A WHITE MALE, LATER TO BE IDENTIFIED AS MR TRENT REDDISH. ░░░░░░ ASKED MR REDDISH,” WHAT DID YOU SAY?” AND MR REDDISH STATED,”YES, I SAID NIGGA AND WHAT THE FUCK YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT BITCH.” ░░░░░░STATED WHEN MR REDDISH SAID THE “NIGGA” AND LOOKED SPECIFICALLY AT ░░░░░░░░. MS GALLOB AND ░░░░░░░░ THEN LEFT THE AREA TO CALL POLICE.
░░░░░░░░░░ STATEMENT CORROBORATED WITH ░░░░░░░ STATEMENT. HE DID ADVISE HE WAS STANDING THERE WHEN WHEN MR REDDISH LOOKED DIRECTLY AT HIM WHEN HE SAID “YES, I SAID NIGGA,” THEN LOOKED AT ░░░░░░ STATING “WHAT THE FUCK YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?” HE DID ADD THAT HE DID TELL REDDISH NOT TO TALK TO ░░░░░░ THAT WAY BEFORE WALKING AWAY FROM THE SITUATION BEFORE IT ESCALATED.
LT EWING 164 AND I MADE CONTACT WITH MR REDDISH. HE WAS ASKED WHAT OCCURRED BEFORE OUR ARRIVAL, MR REDDISH STATED HE WAS PLAYING WITH HIS FRIENDS AND SAID “NIGGA” TOWARDS HIS FRIENDS. MR REDDISH STATED HE WAS CONFRONTED BY ░░░░░░BUT STATED NO ARGUMENT OCCURRED. DUE TO MR REDDISH’S ADMITTING THAT HE DID SAY “NIGGA”, THIS OCCURRED IN A PUBLIC PARK, WHICH WAS SURROUNDED BY MULTIPLE CHILDREN. MR REDDISH WAS ARRESTED FOR DISORDERLY CONDUCT (CITY ORDINANCE 12-2A4).
MR REDDISH WAS SEARCHED, WITH NO RELEVANT FINDINGS, TRANSPORTED TO LIBERTY COUNTY JAIL, AND RELEASED TO JAIL STAFF. MR REDDISH WAS ISSUED HIS CITATION, AND I CLEARED THE SCENE. MY DEPARTMENT ISSUED BODY WORN CAMERA WAS ON AND RECORDING DURING THIS CALL.
The Disorderly Conduct charge was written under the county ordinance as opposed to state law.
City Ordinance on Disorderly Conduct
Hinesville’s city ordinance for disorderly conduct reads as follows:
It shall be unlawful for any person within the corporate limits of the City to engage in any conduct described in the following subsections:
- To act in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another, whereby any person is placed in fear of safety for his life, limb or health;
- To act in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another, whereby public property or property of any other person is placed in danger of being destroyed or damaged;
- To interfere with, by acts of physical obstruction, violence or abusive conduct, the pursuit of a lawful occupation by another;
- To cause, provoke or engage in any fight, brawl or riotous conduct so as to endanger the life, limb, health or property of another or public property;
- To assemble or congregate with another or others for the purpose of causing, provoking or engaging in any fight or brawl;
- To jostle or roughly crowd or push any person in any public place;
- To collect in bodies or in crowds for unlawful purposes;
- To assemble or congregate with another or others for the purpose of or with the intent to engage in illegal gaming;
- To frequent any public place with the intent to obtain money from another by an illegal and fraudulent scheme, trick, artifice or device;
- To assemble with another or others for the purpose of engaging in any fraudulent scheme, device or trick to obtain any valuable thing in any place or from any person in the City, or to aid or abet therein;
- To use fighting words directed towards any person who becomes outraged and thus creates turmoil. Fighting words, as used in this subsection, means words that are of a common knowledge and under ordinary circumstances will, when used to or of another person in such other person’s presence, naturally tend to provoke violent resentment;
- To assemble or congregate with another or others for the purpose of doing bodily harm to another;
- To congregate with another or others in or on any public way so as to halt the flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic and refuse to clear such public way when ordered to do so by a peace officer or other person having authority; or
- To damage, befoul or disturb public property or the property of another so as to create a hazardous, unhealthy or physically offensive condition.
The weight of free speech over Disorderly Conduct under Georgia law, however, offers wide latitude. Speech is protected unless it constitutes legally defined “fighting words” or a “true threat”. Words being vulgar, profane, or offensive on their face do not constitute disorderly conduct. To be classified as disorderly conduct, the speech must be abusive and likely to immediately provoke a violent reaction from an average person.
Duplicative Attorney
According to the incident report provided to TheGeorgiaVirtue.com, the local ordinance fine is $350. The City of Hinesville website lists Robert Francis Pirkle, Sr as the municipal court judge and Luke Moses as the city prosecutor.
Social media posts indicate Reddish became a sworn deputy in 2024. It is not clear if he is currently working in law enforcement.
