Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not hold back after she was questioned about the high-profile YSL case and the absence of murder charges. In a heated news conference, Willis defended herself against criticism that the long-running case against Young Thug and others wasn’t worth the cost and didn’t net the ultimate result that critics expected.
“It was an insane outcome, and my message to taxpayers is: it was an amazing outcome,” she said firmly. “We had 19 convictions, and the community is now safer.”
That “amazing outcome” follows nearly two years of legal wrangling since a sweeping 56-count indictment was issued in early 2022. In that initial document, 28 people were named, among them Atlanta rapper Young Thug. The collective, which had been branded YSL by the state, was accused of being a violent street gang working throughout the city.
The dust settled, and a vast majority of the defendants took plea deals. Seven cases were dismissed, and only one remains on trial. The final one vanished earlier this week in a last-minute plea deal. But for Willis, that doesn’t mean the finding of justice wasn’t served.
Young Thug, whose birth name is Jeffery Williams, accepted a plea on gang and drug charges and walked with time served and 15 years probation. And then another high-profile name, Gunna, took an Alford plea, not admitting guilt but conceding to a sentence, and he received time served plus 500 hours of community service.
Nevertheless, critics, especially defense lawyers, have challenged its aggressive application by Willis, but she’s not backing down.
“I am going to continue to use it because it works, it’s effective, and it tells the jury the whole story,” Willis said.
At one point, local reporter Chase Houle attempted to press her on whether no murder convictions meant that the case had “fallen short”; Willis clapped back, arguing that some critics were out of touch and echoed law enforcement in asserting that prosecuting several gang members helped disrupt gang violence.
“You continue to rush off to defense lawyers who put their children into private schools and communities that are not ours,” she said, clearly exasperated. “What you need to understand is that there were 19 convictions.
She also mentioned recent news coverage of a YSL-related murder of a 21-year-old mother gunned down in front of her child, an emotional reminder, she added, of what’s at stake for this work.
“Stop glamorizing violence, and stop making one victim more important than another victim,” she implored. “All lives matter, victims of all races and all socioeconomic statuses.”
“We made sure that we got the resolutions that we wanted,” she said. “And if they’re not happy with the judgments, they ought to vote in other judges.
Re-elected on 68% of the vote in Fulton County, Willis cited a drop in crime and a stronger sense of safety as indicators that she’s on the right path. “Crime in this place is less than in most places in United States,” she concluded. “I think we’re about number three, and it’s due to the effort I have led against gangs.”
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