St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery, who is currently under house arrest after being slapped with new federal charges, has pled not guilty to all allegations against him. Just six weeks after an initial indictment on a misdemeanor charge of deprivation of rights under color of law, Montgomery is facing amplified accusations of four counts of witness retaliation and one count of witness tampering, as reported by Fox2Now. These charges stem from a situation involving the detainment of Tammy Ross, a former St. Louis jail administrator. Montgomery was allegedly denied access to a rape victim he was seeking to interview.
According to a previous report by 5 On Your Side, Montgomery entered the limelight over recordings that surfaced where he appeared to have threatened to fire sheriff's office employees who cooperated with an FBI investigation. "They gotta go ... They definitely gotta go ... I don't have to take this (expletive), I'm the (expletive) sheriff," Montgomery was quoted saying on the call. Post-indictment, he was subsequently placed under house arrest, a move that sparked the release of a statement on Montgomery's social media—now deleted—affirming his commitment to civic duty and democracy, despite the circumstances.
While under house arrest and leading up to his scheduled court appearance on Tuesday, Sheriff Montgomery took swiftly to social media to communicate with his followers. A post on his Facebook page—which invoked the names of civil rights icons Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks—called for the community to "remain resilient." "But let me be clear: do not allow this situation to shake your faith in our democracy," Montgomery wrote in a statement captured by Riverbender.com. He urged that his situation should not shake the public's belief in the efficacy of their vote and in the larger democratic process.
The case has attracted widespread attention, partly due to the high-profile nature of the accused and the office he holds. Retired Judge David Mason, serving as Montgomery's attorney, indicated that he will to temporarily oversee the sheriff's office until his client is released from house arrest, as confirmed by 5 On Your Side.
