By Nick Jones, President • nick@southerntorch.com

RAINSVILLE, Ala. — Southern Torch had previously reported that on Sunday, June 21st,  Rainsville police officer Josh Wilson made a routine traffic stop which resulted in Jerry Jason McKee, age 44, being issued a citation for speeding. McKee, according to police reports, proceeded to verbally threaten Wilson after being issued a ticket.

Southern Torch obtained a copy of the bond that shows that Rainsville City Councilmember Rickey Bryum and DeKalb County Board of Education member Monty Darwin signed the bond for McKee’s release.

When called for a statement, both Byrum and Darwin stated that they were not aware of his crime before bonding McKee out of jail. 

As reported in a follow-up story, on Wednesday, August 19th, McKee appeared before DeKalb County District Judge Steven Whitmire. He pled not guilty and the case was set for a bench trial in December.  

Southern Torch reviewed a copy of the body camera footage that recorded the proceedings of the traffic stop. We published a summary of the contents of the video previously because the video contains content that is not suitable for an audience other than adults.

After much urging from our audience, we have decided to release the following footage for your review. The footage is edited for consumption as a general audience and is suitable for most audiences.

Our company has received threats of retaliation if we release this video. Our opinion is the public should be the ultimate arbiter. If threats continue, we will update the public accordingly.

Southern Torch will continue to follow any new developments in this story.