Transcript of Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption

Welcome to Mic Unplug, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves, and game-changing conversations. Buckle up. Here's Mic.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting and informative episode of Mic Unplug. And today's guest is a testament to resilience, courage, and the will to persevere. As the author of I'm Still Standing, he shares a personal journey that highlights both the darkest moments and the incredible triumphs of his life. His experience is not just the story of survival, but of standing tall in the face of insurmountable odds. Please join me in welcoming the determined, the courageous, and the inspiring My brother, Mr. Raymond Hicks. Brother Hicks, how are you doing today, man?

Good evening, my brother. How are you doing, Brother Hunt? Just want to thank you and God and Mick Unplug for this opportunity to speak about these things that have taken place in my life, my brother. I just want to tell you that I love you, man, and I just pray that God continue to elevate you and take you to levels that you have not seen before so that you may reach everybody, even internationally, because it's very important, especially when you have stories such as mine and my family.

I appreciate that. I received that, man. I want to start with the story, man. Highly decorated officer, going even before that high school football star stud in the community, And then there was a point where it just crashed, man. A lot of people have given up, but you didn't. That's what makes your story so amazing and so uplifting. And so I'd love to just give you the floor, man. Like, wherever you want to start with your story, the background. But for all the listeners and viewers, I need everybody to just sit down and buckle up because this story right here is going to change your life. Brother Hicks, it's yours, man.

Yeah. So my name is Raymond I'm Mark Hicks. I was born in Bureau Beach, Florida, but I grew up in a place called Gifford, as well as also here in Fort Lauderdale. I just remember when I was about maybe eight or nine years of age, there was always chaos in my home where there were stabbing cutting. My mother was shot, my dad went to prison. I remember the cops coming to my home, and this is after my mom and dad just finished plungeing eyes into each other's body. And the cops would put me aside, saying, Hey, little man, come here. Let Let me talk to you. And of course, they pulled me aside, taking me from the work that was going on. They began to cancel me, said, Hey, this is the black Jack, which was two leather straps still at the end of the two leather straps, then the handcuffs, and then they talked to me about the importance of the gun. And they were saying, maybe one day you could become one of us, a law enforcement officer. It was during that time that I said to myself as a little kid, So if I didn't make it in football, which was my aspiration, I would go into law enforcement to make a difference.

And of course, granted, I grew up where there was... My dad couldn't read or write. He dropped out in third grade, couldn't even spell his own name. My mother dropped out in seventh grade. There I was going to school. But one of the things that he did, Brother Hunt, where he taught me how to fight. So I've been fighting ever since I was six years of age. He bought me a Sockum Bacom, and he said, Each time you punch, you better touch it. And if you don't touch it, I'm going to touch you. And of course, I became so efficient with my hand that every time I punched this Sockenbach, it was a ball that stood up on a little pole. And when you punch it, it go in different directions. And of course, my hand got so good, my brother, that each time that ball I punched it, it went different direction, I was touching it. And it came a point where the teacher asked me, Mr. Herbie asked me to read a sentence in class. And of course, I couldn't read, I couldn't write. And I got up and I tried to do the best that I could, and the kids began to laugh at me.

And I said, Okay, you want to laugh? You wait after class. And as soon as after class was over, I went on talking with me. I started going upside their head. She said, You come here, come here. She said, You're very respectful. She said, But every time I ask you to read a sentence, you always get into a fight. That's when I began to explain to her. I said, Ma'am, I don't have anyone to help me. My dad dropped out in third grade. He can't read or write, can't spell his own name. My mom dropped out in seventh grade. She had to harvest in the fields of Georgia. I said, I don't have anyone to help me. I was getting Ds and Fs, my brother. And of course, when you grow up in the hood, a lot of times your parents are not even concerned about the grades that you get. They don't even ask you what type of grades are you receiving? Living. And that was something that they never asked me when I was a young kid. And she began to tutor me. So I went from Ds and F to Cs and Ds to A, Bs and Cs.

I was able to earn myself a scholarship. But proud of me going to college, I remember I was about 17 years of age. As you mentioned earlier on in this interview that I was a standout athlete. I won the most athletic award throughout Bureau Beach High School, football basketball and track. I set records. Of course, I was about 17 years of age, and we had a basketball game. We normally stop at McDonald's at the conclusion of the game. And of course, I asked my mom if she could give me $2. And she scraped up all the nickels, quarters, dimes that she could, muster, and she couldn't even give me $2. But what she did, there was a grocery store called Piggly Wiggly. And they had the brown paper bags. And of course, my mother, she made me two peanut butter sandwiches, and she put those peanut butter sandwiches in that brown paper bag, and I took it and put it in the bag that the coach gave me, where you put your shoes in your equipment in. And when everybody got off the bus to go in McDonald's, I sat on the bus. I was eating my peanut butter sandwiches.

So I happened to speak to one of the players, and he saw what was going on. So he went and told Coach Dobbingport, his name is Ron Dobbingport. He said, Hey, Coach, Hicks don't have any money. He's still sitting on the bus. One of the things that my mother and father have always told me when I was young, if you don't have it, you don't ask nobody for it. That's just something that I think they do in the hood, in the ghetto that we refer to as poverty. Of course, he says, Ray, you get off this bus from this day forward, I'm going to pay for your dinner. That's what he And finally, I told my mom, I'm getting ready to go to college, mom, because I earned myself a 2.5 GPA. I could have gone to any university that I wanted to go to, Brother Hunt. I had offers from the Gators, UM, a lot of cats that I played ball with. They played ball for University of Miami like Dale Dawkins, James Stuart. Some of these guys, they looked up to me. But in a way, I decided to go to Missouri. A friend of mine that I grew up with, he was like, Yo, Ray, this is a great school, man.

Why don't you come out here? Which was a Division 2. It wasn't a Division 1 school, but it was a Division 2. And of course, I told my mom, I said, Mom, I'm going to need money to go to Missouri. And she scraped up. My mother was a migrant worker. She worked at Hogan & Son, packing house, making a dollar an hour. My dad worked there also. Of course, she scraped up these $99 and she put me on that Greyhound bus. I I was on that bus for three days and three nights. I know, forget it, Brother Hunt, we arrived at Nashville, Tennessee. When I arrived there, one of the things I'm proud to know that my mother always said, Hey, if you get hungry, go drink as much water as you possibly can because that water will make you feel like you're full. When we arrived at Nashville, Tennessee, there was an older white lady. She said, Young man, you and I have been on this bus for three days and three nights I haven't seen you eat anything. She gave me a Baloney sandwich and a banana. And I swear to God, you'd have thought I was eating a Port-a-House steak, my brother.

It was Thanksgiving, huh? Yes, sir. I was so happy that God brought it to my life because I had no money. I had nothing, man. The only thing I had was a Black Foot Locker. And of course, we arrived in Missouri. And when I arrived in Missouri, the coach said to me, Where's this kid from Florida that got wheels. I said, Coach, I said, I'm from Florida, but I don't have no car inside. He said, No, I want to know if you can run. I'm like, Run? On foot? I said, Man. So they took me down to the turf, and I ran like a 4'3, 5'40. And then he said, Come on, let's run it again. Run it over. I ran a 4'3, 7. And from that day, my life took off, where the Booster Club and everybody... I scored every game. And I was determined to become a professional football player Even from a Division 2 school, I was run up for Ricky of the Year award my freshman year. My freshman year, my sophomore year, I broke all the Russian records. Going into my junior year, I became an All-American. And then, of course, the young lady who I'm married to now, I met her there My friend Mark Bellamy was the one who introduced me to my wife, and she had to go into the Navy on a delayed entry program.

So they gave her orders to go to Scotland. During this time, her and I, we was engaged. I'm like, You know what? The only way we could keep you from going to Scotland is to get you pregnant. So that's how our first daughter come about. And I left school. I didn't have a father in my life, man. My dad walked away from us when I was about 12 years of age. So I didn't have that father figure in my life to sit down and talk to me and coach me along the way. So I just basically went off my own instincts because I've always said that if I have a family, I don't want to walk away from my family. I want to be there for them because It's just so important that you got both parents in the home and not just one. Because it take a strong person, man, to raise, especially young men like myself who come from the gutter, man. I come from the bottom, brother. I mean, it It was so difficult for us, man. And I just said to myself, I'm going to do what's right. My mother had to sign the consent in order for us to get married because my wife was stationed in Pascula, Mississippi.

She was on the I said, Simon Lake, and I got a job working at the shipyard there. I worked there until I told my wife, I said, It's time for us. You mean to go back to Florida and try and get a job so I can continue to take care of my family? I came back here to Fort Lauderdale, which is where I used to come almost every year. From about 11 to 12 years of age, I came here to spend time with my family. And of course, I always said that this would be my home as a young kid. I arrived here and I got a job working construction at the 110 Tower, which is right across the street from the courthouse. I was doing construction work, and I said, No, I'm not going to do this long. So I went and applied for the borrower Sheriff office. So 11:17 1986 is when I tried for the bribe Sheriff office, and I was hired by them as a detention officer.

I love it. I love it. I want to pause the story here and ask you about some things, man, that you were just bringing up. So one, at an early age, you knew that what was going on in the household wasn't right. And I have a very similar story of seeing things in the household but not accepting it as normal. And what I love is that you were determined because you could have literally just said, Okay, dad dropped out third grade, mom dropped out sixth or seventh grade. There's no bar for me. But what Brother Hicks said was, I'm going to create the bar. I'm going to create the standard. So I want to applaud you for creating that standard for yourself. And I'm going to go deeper here because you highlighted some things, right? And I know Raymond Hicks is modest, and he ain't going to go there. So I'm going to tell you the things that he didn't tell you. Raymond Hicks was a doggone stud in high school. Let me tell you something, when he said he ran a 4-3-7, after he ran a 4-3-5, people don't do that. And so I'd love for you to just talk a little about your football powers, too, man.

What was it like you leaving Florida for the first time, going into Missouri, a spot that you didn't really know anyone other than your best friends? What was that like? And then when you knew and realized you were just dominating, scoring a countdown in every game, Some games, three and four touch downs. Again, Raymond ain't going to tell you, I'm going to tell you. What was that like for you when you just were like, I'm that guy?

Well, ever since I was a little kid, my mother would tell you this, I always went to bed with a football or basketball in my arms. When you talk about a great athlete, I mean, Vero Beach, my name was up in the gymnasium. I mean, I scored, I don't know how many touch downs, I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of yards that I had. As a matter of fact, my ninth grade year, I was moved up to Varsity, and we won the very first state Championship in 1981 at Vero Beach High School, where we played against Pensacola, Wyndham, And that's the first time that Vero Beach High School have ever won a state championship. They have not won a championship since that time. Just go to show you the type of the athletes that was there and the athleticism that we displayed each and every day, man. We was hungry. A lot of time where people don't realize, and that's why I give my brother Deion credit, Deion Sanchez credit, because of the fact where he came from. He used his life as an illustration to these young people to inspire them. A lot of people don't realize, man.

Take your time, brother. Take your time. Take your time, man.

It's your only way out, man. It's your only way is with your athletic ability. My family, man, I grew up around killers, man. I mean, if my mom and dad was plunging niazling to each other's body, and he eventually shot my mom. He even shot his own best friend because they said he touched my mom leg. I wasn't there at the doing the time, but this is what I was informed. And it was my dad's best friend. His name was Mr. Nott. And Of course, he went up under the tree where they played dominoes and cars and stuff. They drink, smoking, all this other stuff. And that's where my dad found him at. And my dad said, Nott, did you touch my wife leg? And he said, I touch a leg, what you going to do? He said, I'm going to shoot you, man, if you tell me you touch my wife's leg. And of course, he said, Yeah, I touch her. And my dad pulled out a Chrome 32 with a Pearl handle, for what I was told, Mr. Hunt. And I know for me, been a law enforcement that when he tried to shoot him in his face, from what I was told, Daddy, jerk the trigger.

It's like when you shoot, if you ain't squeezing and you're jerking it, the ground is not going to go where you anticipate it going. And he said, You didn't shoot me. He said, No, I didn't get you that time, but I get you this time. The second one hit him in his neck, and my dad did eight years in prison. It's not easy, man. When you come from the hood, a lot of these young athletes, man, trying to get out. They want to make something out of themselves And the only way they can come out of this type of environment is from the athletic ability. And that's what I was striving on. I said, I'm going to make it to the pros, man. I know I'm making the pros, whether it be basketball, football, or track. And I I was determined, my brother. I tell you, it's just amazing to me because when you grew up in poverty and you see a lot of these different things, but I didn't want to become a product of my environment, brother Hunt. I wanted my environment to become a product of who I am. The things that I witnessed and I saw, and I'm saying to myself, I don't want this for me, man.

I want to get away from here. And that's what enticed me to leave. And my mom said, Where are you going? I said, Mom, I'm going Missouri. She said, Missouri? She said, Son, why would you go so far? You don't know nobody. I said, I know one person that was Mark Bellamy, and I decided to go to Missouri, and it really changed my life, man. Yes, sir.

I appreciate that insight in that story, man. You're touching millions with this story. Now, let's go back to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. So 1986, you apply, right? Again, Brother Raymond Hicks being Brother Raymond Hicks, you don't do anything halfway. So if you're going all in, you're going all in. And you were trying to not only be the best, but also be an example. And so let's talk about the early years of the police department. So you get there, then you become highly decorated, man. One of the most decorated folks on the floor. Let's talk about that a little bit.

When I first got hired at the Brouhaha Sheriff office and detention, working in the jail, I used to hear the cries of brothers and sisters saying, Hey, man, they planting drugs on us. They beating us to the ground. They taking money from us. One of the guys that I grew up with, we call him Gaston Aekens. We call him G. Fresh, but his name is Gaston Aekens. And of course, G, he was out in the streets, man, robbing and selling drugs and everything else. I used to always get on him. I'm like, Gee, listen, man, the recidivism rate is constantly growing by a vast number, man. You need to change your life around, G. I said, What about your wife and kids? Man, you was one of the ones that made it out the hood, man. I said, So can you, G? I said, You need to change your life around, man. The third time that he went to prison, Mr. Hunt, he actually took up a trade operating back holes. Of course, when he came home, he got a job as a construction worker. And that brother went from just a regular construction worker to a foreman and to a superintendent, and now he own his own construction company.

His son actually worked out with the Miami Dolphins. His name was Jonathan Akins and also Marquise Akins. So people can change, man. It just takes someone to inspire them and teach them about, Hey, man, what you're going to do with your life, man? You sitting here, you're going through all of this stuff. What about your family? And a lot of times, when you're growing up in poverty, people don't care about their family, man. The family is involved in all kinds of crazy stuff. I got killers in my family, man. I got young people in my family been selling drugs, on drugs, robbing, home invasion, and everything else that you can think of. Again, like I said, I didn't want to become a product of my environment, my brother. I wanted to be an example. And while I was a deputy, yes, I was a highly decorated officer, man. I risked my life so many different times to earn the awards that I received from that agency. For an example, in 1997, there was a gentleman who actually came from the Sacriotage Award, and he punched one of our in the face, and he was trying to toss him over the rail.

He literally knocked the sergeant out, and I happened to be walking by, and the sergeant, Sinclair, said, Ray, go, go, go. So I ran into the unit, and the deputy who was there, he panicked. The deputy in panic. He didn't do anything, and he getting ready to toss him. So finally, I got there and I told him, Put him down, man. So I helped him put him down. He was knocked out cold. And they were trying to move him back downstairs to general population. He didn't want to go. And there was a big brother, too, man. He was about 6'2, '70, 274. And he hit him and literally knocked him out. And as a matter of fact, he hit me and literally almost knocked me out. I mean, it was like I'm out of taking one of those hot cones that you put on the stove back in the days, you know what I mean? And to straighten the hair. And it felt like he went from the front of my head to the back of my head, man. He hit me so hard. And the inmates went to screaming out, Man, he could Hicks going kill you, man.

And when I came to my equilibrium, Brother Hunt, I hit him so hard that if you looked at my left hand right here, you'll see where the bone actually came through the skin, and they had to put two pins crisscross tossing each other, and they had to take bone fragments out right here. And I lost my knuckle right here. So we both went to the hospital that day, man. But thank God I was able to get in there, man, because had he tossed him over them rails, man, he wouldn't have survived. He would have probably really did some real serious damage to the sergeant, Dermotarcus. They gave me the Silver Cross award. Then, of course, they gave me Deputy of the Month in 1997. I went on. In 1999, I risked my life doing an armed carjacking. I thought it was an armed robbery. I see this car coming down the street, and I was in civilian clothing. When the light turned red, I saw the taxi cab stop. But there was two black individuals in the car. When the light turned green, the car merged into the fence. When the car merged into the fence, I saw the two of them fighting.

So I said, Let me just stop and break up the fight. As I I stopped to break up the fight, Brother Hunt, I discovered they were wrestling over a 350 said Magnum. One round went through the roof of the car. The subject took a chunk out of the victim eye. They both were saying, He's robbing me. He's robbing me. So going back to my special training that I had, I had to secure that weapon. So what I did is I did a redirect. I put pressure on that trigger finger to make him release it, either release it or it's going to snap. And he released the gun and the subject took off running. So when he took off running, I got on the phone, call communication. Hey, I need a popper in the air. I need a perimeter set up. I gave my location. I told him who I was. I gave my CCN number. And of course, within a few minutes, they set up a perimeter and they arrested this 18-year-old kid. Come to find out, he gets into the taxi off of sixth Strong, which is one of the worst areas here in Broward County.

He gets into the taxi and have the taxi take him off for Oakland Park at 21st Avenue, and he went upstairs and retrieved the gun, according to the report that I read, came back downstairs and made the taxi cab driver get in the passenger seat. At this time, he was robbing him. Of course, it an armed car jacking. I thought it was an armed robbery, but it was an armed car jacking. It was in 1999, I win the Gold Cross Award. That's the highest award that anyone can receive without getting killed in the line of duty. Wow.

That's amazing, brother. So much that you were able to achieve and as always, always being the example, the example for others to follow the standard that you've always set for yourself. Now, let's talk about moving forward. You hinted a bit that you saw corruption going on in the police Department. Talk us through, not necessarily the corruption, but the moment of when you decided that you needed to say something, you needed to do something, and obviously the aftermath of that piece, too.

Yes. So going back to 1990, the borrower's share for us was manufacturing their own drugs, and it was given to us to be sold in the street, which is entrapment. And of course, I said something about it. I told them, I said, How could the borrower's share for us be manufacturing their own drugs and give it to us to be sold in the street? So they pulled several of us out of the jail, Blacks. And if you had any type of street mentality, Brother Hunt, they want to use you for these thing operations. Especially with me coming from the hood, man. What's happening? I got them parlays, meaning that the cocaine rocks that we were selling was probably about the size of our thumb. But I always knew that there was something wrong with that situation. As a matter of fact, I even kept a document that I think I sent to you showing that I was one of the ones who was actually working this thing operation, and they gave me a letter of accommodation because we arrested about maybe 30 some people that night. We confiscated over 100 something cocaine rops. And just to let you know, they was actually cooking the drugs at the courthouse on the seventh floor.

We had a deputy cooking the drugs, and they were packaging everything. I just knew something went right with that. And they created something which was called the Cradle. Within a thousand feet of a school was three years in the state penitentiary. So if you get caught within a thousand feet of a school, you automatically get a mandatory three years in the Florida State Prison.

So So the Sheriff's office was manufacturing their own drugs for distribution, and I'm trying to read between the lines, for a set up as well, right?

Yes.

And Raymond Hicks I got to say something, right?

Absolutely. Yes.

Talk us through that when you had the courage to say, I've got to go against the grain and I've got to report this. I'm sure part of it was, one, you've got to do the right thing because that's who you are. I also feel like a part of it is your conscience just wasn't going to let you sleep, wasn't going to let you function knowing that this was going on. Walk us through that moment of when you decided to say something.

Well, I told them, I said, This is entrapment. How is it that we manufacture the drugs and you guys are giving it to us? Granted, the cocaine rock was in a ziploc package. Church, and it had a serial number on it. The money that they were giving us was marked money. A lot of times, what we did is that we would take informance of a person who had gone out there and committed a crime, and that person, we would give them cocaine rocks and the money They were going to a certain particular location, and they would make the transaction with the subject and come back and give us the intel. When they come back and tell us who these people are, so what we had with the backup unit would move in, and they were arresting these schedules, and then we get out and pose as undercover dealers. I had three goals in my mouth, which is another indication that I'm a part of the street, which in fact, I ain't never been a part of the streets. I grew up in the streets, but I ain't never been a part of the streets. And of course, they had us out there, man, and we were selling these drugs, and I told them that it was wrong.

They told me I shouldn't mind my business. I told, What you mean mind my business? And of course, I just made a decision that I was going to stop selling drugs, and I went and got a job working for a boot camp. They chose me to go to a Fort McCollum Drill Sergeant School in order to get certified as a drill instructor because the Braille Shareholder was implementing their own boot camp program. So I went to Fort McCollum, me and several of the individuals, and it was really hard, man. It was physically hard, mentally hard, academically, it was hard. These drilling structures was not going to give you anything if you didn't earn it. And The course, I went through that course, I passed it, and I came back to Brouwer County. As a matter of fact, while I was there, Brother Hunt, I called my wife. I told her, I said, Listen, go ahead and send me a ticket, man. I arrived on Sunday, and that Thursday I was ready to come back home because it was just that intense. It was just that hard. But one of the drill instructors said to me, he said, If you guys are going to put other people through the same type of regimen training that we put you through, this is the reason why we actually have you going through this program so you'll be able to understand the distinguish between turning it on and turning it off, which means that you break a person down, but you help rehabilitate that person and make them a stronger person.

When I came back, let me tell you something, I was one of the best drill instructors that anybody would ever come in contact with. When you look at me, you would think that I was actually served in the United States Army, Marines, or even the Navy. I was just that sharp, man. My boots, you can literally see yourself with my boots. My uniform, it was so pressed that you think it cut you because that's something that I took pride in, man. I want to set the tone and the example for those I was an individual that was coming through the boot camp program. And a lot of times I use my life as an illustration to them to let them know that I come from the gutter. It took something for me to come out of that type environment to be the person that I am now. And this is the reason why I'm a drill instructor to inspire you, to lead you, and guide you in the right direction.

Yep, always the example. Raymond Hicks is always the example. But then things change. There's a moment when all of a sudden the tables turn. Again, I'd love for you to be able to tell this in your own way. Tell us about what transpired next.

Of course, as I was working in boot camp, I decided to go through the Crossover Academy from direction to law enforcement. I finished the academy. I was going to school at night from 4:00 to 10:00 up in Palm Beach. I graduated from there, and then I came back and I began to work on narcotics again. I worked with drug task force, OCD, which is organized crime in the Cradle. And of course, I'm watching these individuals, they plant drugs on black offenders and beat them to the ground and take them money. I mean, they were busting their head open with this PR-24. It was a flashlight that carried D batteries. We call it PR24, but it's actually a flash light that we used to have that we carried on our side. And I mean, they were splitting these guys heads open, man, where they putting staples and everything else in their head. And it got to a point, Brother Hunt, that the way that they would be these Blacks, man, I got so angry. And I admit that I was wrong, but I started knocking the White folks out. Every time I made a transaction with them, I was hitting them and knocking them out.

And the Commander came to me. She says, Ray, why are you hitting them like that? I said, why are they hitting them like that? You guys ain't said nothing about how they're busting these people's head open, and you ain't doing nothing about that. So why are you saying something to me? But again, I was wrong for that. But I just felt like, why are doing my people like this, and you think that it's okay? It's not okay, man. I'm going to say something about it. I called a cop to my dad when he was doing wrong, when they were fighting and everything else, I would down 911. So I felt like it was the right thing to do. It just got to a point, man, where I'm watching these folks take money because the one particular area that we was on, the Sunrise and fourth Avenue on sixth Street, they actually had... D's brother was selling cocaine for $40, $50, $60. So the commander would give us X amount of rocks. We get out there and pose, and they would give us the money. And I'm watching these dudes leave with thousands of dollars each and every night, man.

I'm like, What are you guys doing, man? You're no different than the one that we just put in the petted wagon, and they've been taken downtown. You should be going to jail yourself. They told me, Again, you need to mind your business. What the freak you mean mind my business? And it just got worse from there, man. You know what I mean? Because I I felt like it was the right thing for me to say something about what I saw and what I witnessed. It's not what I heard, it's what I saw. And nobody can refute this. I have documents and everything else as it relates to everything I'm sharing with you, my brother, to back up what I'm saying. And It really got bad for me, man. They came to me and told me, Hey, Ray, we're not going to use you out here on the streets no more. We're going to put you back in the jail. I said, I don't give a flying, you know what? You could put me back in the jail. That's where I started from. And Of course, they put me back in the jail. I was working the sixth floor, and I was working Bravo Ships 73.

And when I left work to go home, I normally take a shower and I lie down, and I wake up around about 5:00, 5:30. I had like 607 pounds in my backyard. Of course, me and my neighbors, one of the sergeant sons, they used to come and work out with me every day. There I am getting ready to go in my backyard and work out. I look across the street and I'm like, that's even the SWAT team or the Droid Task Force mounting up. When they saw me, Brother Hunt, they all jumped in their cars and they spent down the back street of my home. So I told a young man that I was working out with, I said, Come on, man, let's go to the front of my yard. My wife had gone to Wendix, which was maybe a couple of blocks from the house. They had me and my kids at gunpoint. They had my 12-year-old daughter and my seven-year-old daughter at gunpoint, man. Sixty-something cops throwing me at gunpoint. And they was saying, Hey, are you Ray Hitz? I said, You guys know I'm Ray Hicks, man. What's the problem? And they said, Well, we got a warrant for your arrest.

I said, A warrant for who rest. For what? So all of a sudden, this black dude named Ricky Clark, he come pat me at my shoulder. Hey, come on, man. Come on, Hitz. I said, What you mean, Ricky? What the freak you mean? Calm down. I'm looking at him like... Because if they had told me what they were coming get me for a Brother Hunt, they would have killed me that day because I ain't never tried drugs in my entire life. I never tried a marijuana cigarette that we refer to as a joint. I never took a drink a day in my entire life. And God is my witness. If they had told me what they were coming there to get me for, they'd have killed me, man. So of course, he started trying to calm me down. So my daughter get on the phone, she calls my wife, Hey, mom, they got data here. The police got data here. And Rob Shaw came to me, Hey, wait, we're going to place you on suspension, depending on the outcome of this case. I'm like, What case? You guys didn't show me no warrant. What case are you talking about?

Well, we can't discuss it right now. What do you mean you can't discuss it? So they go in there tearing up stuff in the house looking for... I don't know what they're looking for. You got any guns? Yes, I got guns. They belong to me. They don't belong to the Sheriff Department. So they hurry up and handcuffed me and put me in a marked unit and transported me over to district 5. So when I ride the district 5, I'm still asking a question, Why am I here? Ray, we got to book you in. I'm saying, Book me in for what? What are the charges? They still ain't told me nothing. So of course, after they booked me in, they transported me over to the city jail. So when I get over to the city jail, I'm asking a question, Brother Hunt, Why am I here? What did I do, man? Everybody started telling me, Well, we can't discuss We can't discuss it right. What do you mean you can't discuss it? You can't tell me what... Okay, let me talk to a lawyer. They wouldn't even give me an opportunity to call a lawyer. Nor did they ever read me my Miranda.

Of course, they put me in isolation, solitary confinement. I'm there for 24 hours. The next day, the marshals arrived. I'm like, Whoa, man, what the marshals doing here? Ray, we're here to take you to court. Okay, for what? Well, we can't get into it, Ray. We're just here to transport you to court. They handcuffed me, my brother, with the handcuffs like this in front of me. They shackled me, and they had the change intertwining with the handcuffs and shackles They put me in an unmarked unit and transported over to the federal courthouse. When I arrived over there, my wife and my mom sitting there in the courthouse, and the prosecutor, DA, she says, When Mr. Hicks is at work, he's in the top 10% of his department. But when he's not at work, he's into other curricular activity. I'm looking at my mom and my wife saying, What the freak is this woman talking about, man? Then she actually proffered to the courts. She said that I went to various states, they're living 350 kilograms of cocaine that was equivalent to $750 million. Wow.

That part I did not know. That's wild and crazy. Totally insane. Totally insane. You're in court and you get convicted wrongfully. I know it's a moment you never Don't forget having to look at your family, those that look up to you, and that's the image that they see. Not the superstar of Raymond Hicks, not the decorated officer, not the man of the community. That's That's the image that they see. I know that that's the pain because it's pain for me. That's the pain that I know. Images of other people's mind, other people's perception, you can never take away. I know that that had to eat it to you more than anything.

Basically, the magistrate judge, she said, You're not a flight, Chris. She said, But you're a minister society.

Take your time, brother. You know who you are, and you know what you've done for your community, for other communities, keeping people safe, keeping families together, and to hear that Raymond Hicks is a minister to society.

I'm a minister of society. I ain't never been in trouble my entire life. I was a holiday officer. Never been in trouble. Fifteen years on the force. I'm a 20 minutes. So of course, she slam the gavel, told them marshers to come in and escort me out. So of course, they take me to the holding cell, and I'm going in the holding I said, Well, there was five other guys who I used to work out with at the gym. And all of us was big dudes, man, bitching like 500, 600. I mean, a lot of weight. And I'm looking at every last one of them, brother Hunt. And Lord is my witness on everything I love, man. I'm like, which one of you said something about me, man? They're like, Come on, Big Hicks, man. You're tripping, man. I'm like, Which one of you said something about me? Because really, I'm ready to chat it head off their body, man. I'm ready to tear their head off their body. I'm ready to fight with every last one of them in the unit. They're like, Come on, man, you tripping, man. Ain't none of us ain't said nothing about you, man.

This is crazy. And of course, they They hurry up and take us out. They give us a bag left and take me down to the federal prison, man. I get down there, and these people treated me as humane. They said, All your belongings, we're going to take it and send it back to your house. So they took all my clothes and everything. They put it in a box. They sent it back to my home. It's a certain way that you script such an inmate, Brother Hunt. And I noticed because when I worked in a jail and the way that they tried to treat me, man, when It was then humane. I mean, literally inhumane. When you strip search your inmate, if they got hair, you haven't run their finger through the air. You haven't lift up their tongue, you haven't turned around, the bottom on their feet. And of course, you haven't been at the waist and spread their cheeks and cough. And I told him, I said, Man, there's nothing professional about you guys, man. I said, But you know what? You got a job to do. So they come and give me an orange jumper They took me and put me in a hole.

I stayed in the hole for- Take your time, brother. Five months. I stayed in the hole for five months. But I remember Ray Louis, how when he went to jail, he was doing push-ups. The only way I could really go to sleep, my brother, was to actually... I started doing 1,000 to 1,500 push-ups every other night. When they brought the food to me, if it wasn't a hot dog or hamburger, I was going to eat it because I felt like they were spattered. They were spitting my food. And these officers, they were jiggering at me every single day, Man, you that effing cop. I hope you call for the rest of your life. You that cricket cop. I said, I ain't never been a cricket cop. And furthermore, I've been here for something that I didn't do. Yeah, that's what they all said. I said, I don't know what they all say, but I'm I'm telling you what I'm saying. I don't have a right to be here, and I should be here. And I said, Furthermore, you guys are not professionals. I said, None of you guys are professionals. I said, your job is not to judge me based on the fact that what I'm in here for, your job is to remain as a professional.

Your job is to do your job the way the policy and procedure, the SOP, the standard operation procedure said that you should do. Your job is not for you to judge me based on the fact that I'm here locked up something that I have not done. It just got to a point, my brother, that I'm ready to fight with all of them. There's an emergency button inside the unit, and I start pushing the button repeatedly. Because now, I think it should be mandated that a man or woman who be placed in a hole, don't stay in there no more than a few hours, man. Because to be in there for days and months, I don't know if you ever seen the movie Reuben Hurricane Carter, when Denzel was actually in the hole. Hallucinated. Yeah, you saw hallucinated, man. It's like the walls are caving in on you. You can put your arms out there and you can test the walls. I mean, this is the type of stuff that you experience, man. They feed you like you some dog. They let down the cover slot. They call it a feeding port and hole, where you let the tray down and then you put the tray on there.

It's a total darkness. You in there 23 hours a day, one hour a day for recreation. Envision going to your bathroom, turn out the lights, and envision you being in there for 23 hours a day. You only come out for one hour a day for recreation. You don't go nowhere for rec. You go right around the corner in another unit similar to what you're already in. So it really intensified, man. But I would never forget this brother named Captain Fernandez. And when God bless me, Brother Hunt, I'm going to find that brother, man. I'm going to bless him and his family. Trust me when I tell you that, because that man treated me with respect. He had them come and get me and bring me to his office. So they had me put my arms through the feeding port. They handcuffed me before they came in the cell because I really want to take their head off, Brother Hunt. May God be my witness on everything I love. And once I put my hand in, they came in and shackled me and took me to his office. So when I went to his office, Mr. Hicks, he said, Listen, man, you was one of us at one time.

I said, Yes, I was one of myself. I He's never one of these guys who you got out here working for you. He said, What can I do for you? I said, I haven't talked to my wife and kids, man. Can you allow me an opportunity to talk? Because the only way you can really get a phone call is every seven days, and it's through your lawyer. So your lawyer, because you can't do a three-way in the feds. That's one thing you can't do. You know what I mean? You do a three-way, your phone privilege is done. So of course, she gives me a phone call. I call my wife, I'm talking to her, and she's telling me about all these things that she's going through and what she experiencing. Man, let me tell you something. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, Brother Hunt. You understand me? As a man, as a father, as a husband, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. That's on everything I love, man. After that phone call, Mr. Hicks, he said, Listen, the only other way you're going to be able to talk to your family on a regular basis is to go down the general population.

I said, I don't care where you put me, man. You can put me wherever, I'm at home. So they put me down in general population. I was down there with eight guys who I had arrested, or I was over when they came through the county jail, man. As soon as I got to the unit, there's From what I found out, later, there's 122 inmates. There's an upper tier and a lower tier. There's one officer in the unit. So as soon as I walked through the door, this one black dude who saw my picture parade over the newscast, man, that's that effing cop. So one of the cats that knew me from the streets, he lived in Tater town. We called him blind because he had those thick glasses, but his name was Maurice. So of course, he was like, Man, you know who that is? Man, that's Big Hicks. He come from where Where did he come from. He going to thump. You're tripping, man. So he saw my picture parade over the newscast. He done formulated an opinion about me. So I get ready to go in there and put my bed roll down.

As I'm putting my bed roll down, I turn around, and there he So all these inmates gathered around the door. That's what they do. When you get ready to fight, they all gathered around to block the office from them seeing whatever's going on. I told him, I said, Dude, you got a problem with me? I said, Come on in here. We can handle this like men. He actually tried to run in and tried to grab me, Brother Hunt. And I hit him with so many lefts and rights, man. And when he hit that floor, I tried to kill him, Brother Hunt. I mean, I tried to put my fist through his brains, man, blood gushing from his face like a faucet. And the was like, Yo, Big Homen. They gave me the name Big Homen. Big Homen, come on, man, you're going to kill him. I was trying to kill him. And the feds, they give you sardines. So that lid that comes on the sardine can, I took that lid and put it in my... We wore a green jumper. I put that lid in my pocket. When the brother was sitting at the same dude at the table, man, I was getting ready to whip his stroke, man.

I was getting ready to cut his stroke, brother. One of the dudes, the Robin Harris, he He said, Man, he said, Come on. He called me Sarge. That's the nickname they gave me when I got on with the Sheriff Department. He said, Sarge, come on, man. Don't do this, man. When the dude realized what was getting ready to happen, he actually went to the officer and they moved him off the floor. I don't know where they took him, but they had to get him out of there where I was because I wanted to finish him, man, to let him know who the freak you think you're playing with, man. Don't play with me because I'm not the one. When you're looking at me, brother, you're looking at my dad, man. Right. My father and I are identical. My mom will tell you to this day, my wife will tell you to this day. My mom, she say, anytime she get mad at me, she said, Okay, Raymond Lamar Hicks. She referred me as my dad. I told her, I'm not like my father. Don't want to be like him. It won't be like him. But one thing is for sure, you ain't going to pump me.

I'm going to tell you right now. I had to let all of them know, but don't try me. You better try somebody else. You know what I mean? Because I'm not finna lay down. And I just questioned God, man. I said, Lord, why me? And God said, Why not you? And Do you not know, my brother, the Lord spoke to me and said, When all revenues has been exhausted, that's when I begin to manifest myself. And do you not know that God changed my life, Brother Hunt? I mean, I walked around saying, Chapel Glacier, getting brothers up in the morning and afternoon and night to come into the chapel, man, just to pray. As a matter of fact, I won a life-saving award, Brother Hunt, while I was an inmate, and I was honored by the award of the institution. I got the document to show it to you.

Always going to be Raymond Hicks, right? Always setting the standard, always being the example, all the things that I appreciate about you. You finally, 15 and a half months, 16 and a half months later, finally got your day in court, right? Yes. The amazing part of this for everybody that's listening or watching is this. Raymond knew he was innocent. You just heard him say he was manifesting it. He got in front of a jury of his peers, and it took not even 30 minutes for them to come back and say, Raymond is innocent. How did that moment of validation feel for you? All the emotion. This hour we spent together, I see the emotion. I still see the pain. What was that moment like when you heard 12 people say, not that they believe you, that's understood, but they believe in you? What was that like for Raymond? What was that moment like when that happened? You're sitting there, you knew for all these months that you did nothing wrong, but to get validated, how did you feel?

I felt vindicated. Going back to that day, September 26th of '01, my family had come to court, and my wife even had a panic attack. I didn't even notice until she told me after I came home, she went in the bathroom before she got on the stand to testify and had a panic attack in the bathroom. But I remember on September 26th of '01, where they had us walking down this long corner, and they had chose 11 Whites, one Black, and one Black alternate, all no business people. And, brother, let me tell you something, Brother Hunt. I had a chill that came over my body, man, that I can even describe to you. It felt like I was in Alaska with no clothes on. It was like a chill. I couldn't stop it. But I remember walking down this long carter, man, and the shoter was literally cutting into my ankles. I don't know if I felt like somebody had a razor blade cutting at my ankles every time you take a step, man. And that's why you see a lot of these inmates, they take the pants leg and they try and put a sock or something over the pants just to keep.

But that still doesn't do any good because when you start walking, they start rubbing. And I tell you, man, when I got back in that courtroom and saw the jurors that they had chose, the DA, I'm saying to myself, This is crazy. They offered me 16 and a half months. I was incarcerated for 11 and a half months. They said, You I'm going to go home in three months. I told them the devil's a liar. I'm going to trust God and know that God going to deliver me. I refuse to accept time serve. I'm not going to go in there and admit that's something I didn't do. So they had to get rid of the court of point of the Chinese. They were trying to force me to take time, my brother. I found out that the DA give them a bonus. When some of these brothers and sisters take a plea, the DA give them a bonus just for you taking a plea. I'm saying to myself, What is wrong with this system, man? You know what I mean? How do you get a plea? How many you get a bonus for someone taking a plea?

The person could be innocent like myself. Of course, I'm so grateful to God, man. Those guys, they got off my case. Finally, my wife went through a thrift saving. He was a federal prosecutor. His name was Michael Bloom. And Mr. Bloom never lost the case in 15 years. He told my wife and my mom, he said, Your husband is not a drug dealer. Your son is not a drug dealer. He said, I know when I see one. And I was so happy when he came to see me and when he represented me in court. And do you not know that the chief judge, Judge Recker, this man had a mustache that were rolled up at the end, and they said he would give you a million years if he found out that you was guilty, right? He asked him, he says, What are drugs? No drugs. Where's the money? No money. He said, So why this man here? They lied and said, I was giving me confidential law enforcement information. So my attorney subpoenaed the communication operator, Kathy Munaz, who worked in the capacity for 25 years. She came and she testified, Mr. Hicks has not ran this information.

How you determine who run it is through your Social Security number. There's a sign a hand sheet, and there's a certificate of completion from FDLE. I have never taken that course. Then they lied and said I was on audio tape. When they played the tape for the jury and the judge, they found out that it wasn't my voice on the tape, but in fact, it was the same deputy who arrested me. So the judge became in theory that you would have thought that the guy was shouted all over the floor because he called for sidebar. He said Sidebar. You can hear the static in the background. He said, For impeachment purposes. Everything you all said to bring this man in here, you better come back in here with the same information. Why is this man here? And they lied. And you know what's amazing to me, Brother Hunt, is they knew that they didn't have no drugs. They knew they didn't have no money. It was all fabricated, my brother. And then they tried to get an informant who was arrested by the Brian Sheriff office on January 11th of 2000, just a few months prior to me being arrested on June 15th of 2000.

He chased the man down the street, Mr. Eddie Fraser, because Mr. Fraser went there to collect his $75 for dumping his trash, he come out the side of his house with a gun, chased the man down the street. A neighbor called 911. They arrested this man the aggravated salt with a firearms. So BSO give this man $15,000. They give him $20,000. They debrief him. They come in there and lie on me and the other people that I was locked up with. So he said that the 350 kilograms of cocaine was in a Duffer bag. My brother, I got the paperwork, I got the document, and I can send it to you, Brother Hunt, where you can look at it yourself. He said there was a Duffer bag that had 350 kilograms of cocaine and $750 million. The Brouhaha Sheriff, who was investigating, should have known that you can't get 350 kilograms of cocaine and $750 million in a Duffer bag. So when they played the tape for the jury, the judge, it was a vacuum cleaner. And then this freaking moron, he lied and said that on December 24th, I saw him and his wife at a red light, and I pointed my finger at them that I was going to shoot the two of them.

So my attorney subpoenaed his My wife, Sheryl Pratt, she came and she testified. So my attorney said, Ms. Pratt, before your testimony, have you ever seen my client sitting next to me? She said, No, I've never seen this man before. He said, Please take a good look at him because your husband just profit to the courts that on December 24th, 1999, my client saw the two of you at a red light. He motioned with his finger that he was going to shoot you. She said, My husband is telling a lie. She said, My husband and I was not even together on December 24th of 1999. The case were presented to the jury. They actually came in, escorted all of us out, and they took us back to the holding cell, gave us a bag lunch that contained a banana, an orange juice, and a Baloney sandwich. Not even just a few minutes later, the marshals came and said, The jury has reached the verdict. Man, let me tell you something, man. I mean, before their deliberation, I took the stand and I testified on my own defense. I told them, I said, Listen, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ain't never been in trouble my entire life.

This is my department coming after me because I spoke out against the wrongdoing of these people doing things that was morally wrong, totally unethical. This is their way of trying to silence me. I said, I was a highly decorated officer. I said, But each and every last one of you guys that sit there, you're listening to the testimony of each and every last one of us. I said, You guys watch the news and you read the newspaper and you formulate an opinion about us, not even knowing the logistics of everything that transcribed within the case. I said, I hope and pray that you guys find it in your heart and to see what's been done to us because it's not right. Of course, they took us back. They gave us a bag lunch, and then the marshals came and said, Hey, the jury has reached the verdict. I came back in and my wife was there, and I Well, I don't know if my mom was with her, but they had come to court and other people from the Sheriff's office to support me. That's another thing. The people who came to support me, the Braille Sheriff's office, the Internal Affairs Division, was harassing these people, man.

And I must mention to you, when they played the audio tape in court, Brother Hunt, it was the same deputy who arrested me at my home.

Yeah.

And I sent you guys a tape so you can hear it for yourself. I'm I'm saying to myself, this is... But in a way, the jury deliberated and they came back with it. They said, The judge said, Has the jury reached a verdict? So the foreman stood up and he said, Yes, Your Honor, we, the jury has reached the verdict. And he says, As the race relates to Raymond Lamar Hicks, we find the defendant not guilty.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Vindicated, validated all the emotions, right? In that moment, again, your wife, the love that your wife had, because, again, getting the attorney that could get your voice heard, right?

Yes.

The a judge that did the right thing that was listening to the lack of evidence and not just taking it. Raymond Hicks got to be Raymond Hicks, which which we love, which we honor, and what we're so thankful for. That could have been the story. That could have been the story, but that's also not Raymond Hicks. That is not Raymond Hicks. That's not the way that Raymond Hicks handles business. That's not the way Raymond Hicks is going to conduct himself. What has Raymond Hicks done since then? We've got the book. What's Raymond Hicks doing now? What are the things that you're doing to make sure that, one, this It doesn't happen to others, but also continuing that vindication that you so rightly deserve?

Well, after being exonerated, Brother Hunt, I must mention to you, and I make it brief, the borrower's Sheriff office, they stormed my home a second time at gunpoint. Another six and some cops on January sixth of '04 said I was shooting at someone in my backyard. Of course, I take that case to trial before the judge. There was a white guy who showed up in my yard, my wife showed him the documents, and within a second, they dissipated. They were all gone. So they sent me a letter in the mail saying that I discharged a firearms. When I take the case trial, the judge said, Judge Steven DeLuca in Deelfield, he said, So where's the victim? There's no victim. Did you do a ballista test? No. Where's the bully case? And there's none. He said, So why would you bring a former deputy in my courtroom, one of your own, and you said that he committed these You have nothing. So I was tried by the court, sir, and I was acquitted by the judge. So what I did, I began to fast and pray, as I always do now, building that intimate relationship with the Lord.

And of course, I went back into the community. I got a job working in Boot Camp, Elite Military Academy. And I helped 25 kids accomplish their high school diploma GED. With the help of my wife and my daughter, I helped my mother at the age of get her a high school diploma. My brother, at the age of 32, get his GED, which he dropped out of school in 11th grade. But I could tell you he's been working for the county now for 26 years. I win this prestigious award in 2004, the African-American Achievers Award. It's given to the person who actually go within their community to make a difference. It's actually given to you from a philanthropist, Mr. Jim Moran, from the Southeast Toyota a distributor. And when I won, they was given $1,000 to each honourary. Now it's up to $30,000 each honoree. That's what that person should receive to give to a business or organization of their choice. So I won this prestigious award. And I must mention to you is that they came again, Brother Hunt. But they sent me death threats, man. They sent me death threats that I'd be lying in my room in a pile of blood.

They left it on my answer machine. I called 911, a communication dispatch a unit to my home, Rick Watson. I said, Rick, listen to this here, man. He said, Ray B. Kelfin, you know how these people's played. I said, The only thing I need you to do is a 908A Alpha, which is a written report. And of course, Brother Hunt, they stormed the home a third time, but they was looking to kill me. But my daughter was there. She was 18 years of age, and my four-year-old son was there. So again, they handcuffed me, shackled me, man, take me down to booking. And I'm still to ask a question because when they came to the house, I'm like, What is this here for? We got a warrant for your arrest. I said, For what? We can't discuss it. I said, Here you guys go again with this. You can't discuss it, but you're telling me you got a warrant for my arrest. There was a black gentleman named Robert Crum, who got into an argument with the white sergeant because I couldn't get my arms behind me. I'm 290 pounds right now, 6'1, almost 6'2.

I couldn't get my arms behind me. He was telling him, Put the epic cups on him like I told you to. So the two of them engaged in a verbal confrontation that literally almost led to a physical altercation, man. And I said, I managed to get my arms behind me. He said, Ray, you can't get your arms behind you, man. So of course, I get downtown One of the guys who I helped get on with the Sheriff Department in detention, his name was Richard Lee. So I said, Lee, he was working booking. So he said, Man, if it's Hicks and Violent, man, I could calm him down because he called me Big D. I called him Little D. Of course, he said, What's strange about this? On the PC, there's no victim, but they charge you with child abuse. I said, Child abuse? I'm like, How child? I just wanted to hire some water in the community. I ain't never touched my own kids. So the prosecutor, during a thorough investigation, she threw the case out, no prosecution. To answer your question, Brother Hunt, all of this stuff that I've gone through, my brother, it built more of a relationship with Christ.

I built an intimate relationship with the Lord. I pray every day, all day, every day. I constantly watch Deion Sanders. My wife never tell you this is stuff that they bought for me because I just love the direction that he's taking these young men and how he's inspiring each and every last one of them, not only to be football players, but to be productive citizen out in society, to be fathers, husbands or whatever the case may be. Good citizens, man. One day I'm going I'm going to get a chance to meet that brother, and I'm going to share some things with him because his upbringing is almost similar to mine. You know what I mean? But in a way, it inspired me. I went back to college. I graduated college with a 3.97 GPA. With my bachelor's degree in criminal justice and forensic science, I went and got my doctorate degree in theology. On top of that, I actually have a foundation called the Raymond L. Hicks LLLC Foundation, where I give back the underprivileged kids. So my wife and I, me and my family, for the last, what, 15, about 20 years now, we have a back to school extravaganza.

I sent you some of the pictures through Tyler to show you the different things that we... It's a big cookout. And a lot of the money, it comes from out of our own pocket. I don't have a lot of money, but basically, I get a little bit of something that's donated from other people. But the majority of the money that it comes out of my my hard work, my hard earned money that I work for as a security officer. But one thing is for sure, I want to just make a difference. I want to set the tone and the precedent to let these young brothers and sisters know that I'm that same kid that went to bed with a catch-up sandwich, a mandate sandwich. My mother would send me to the corner store and tell me, Hey, tell friendly to give you a dollar worth of Maloney and a loaf of bread. I see them on Friday. Mr. Friendly's store was just tore down just recently, and it's because There's 72 murders since 1972 inside the store. So the area, man, it's a really nasty area, but there's a lot of great people that come out of there.

So I go back to that same neighborhood to let them know that if I made it, you can make it. Only thing you need to do is take pride, look in the mirror, identify yourself, and know where you're going in life. But do it all, my brother. I still love law enforcement. To this day, they took something from me that I love. I I didn't like my job. I love my job. You could talk to so many different people that have seen me speak about it, have responded and say, Man, I changed my life because of Deputy Hicks. I'm talking about white, Hispanic, and blacks. It's a shame, it's a disgrace what they've done to me, my brother. Would you believe my story went viral when I interviewed with Ms. Jane Turner? She was former FBI, Mr. Mike Zumber, former FBI, and Mr. Bobby Ladegarn. When I interview Mr. Jerraba Johnson, and when I interview with them, it was through Mr. Tom Devine, who actually created the Whistleblower Act back in 1978. He said he wanted me to talk to them and tell them my story. When she interviewed me, it was titled, They told me to mind my own business.

She said, Mr. Hicks, let me just tell you this. I read your book, I looked over all the documents that you sent, You're not a criminal, you're a hero. She said, If you If you was moving that type of weight and money, you wouldn't have been arrested by your department, the Brouhaha Sheriff's office. You'd have been arrested by DEA, FBI, ATF, and the marshals. Just say anyone that works in law enforcement knows that that be a fact. Just recently, I was on the news, my brother. I sent the clippers to you guys, where now, after 30 years, because my wife and I went and spoke to the new prosecutor, Mr. Prior, basically saying, Hey, this is what happened to me and my family. And of course, they never gave me a chance to even speak to them. The media told me that they were not interested in my story. Thank God, man, I was able to address this situation. And now you see Mr. Pierre from CNN, you see Dr. Richie from Indisputable and some of these other huge platforms, man, speaking about the fact that Brouhaha Sheriff was a manufacturer on crack and give it to us to be sold in the street.

But to this day, I still love law enforcement. Brother Hunt, and I must put that out there. I'm hoping and praying that one day I can become an advocate for the men and women in uniform. The reason why I say that, because a lot of people don't know, you put your lives on the line each and every day, every minute, every second, every hour of the day. Some of these people make it 50, $60,000 a year, and they can't even afford to take care of their families. A lot of families are being broken apart because the husband and the wife are working so many hours doing overtime and not spending quality time with their family. You wind up there, there's infidelity and everything else that goes on. So the fact of the matter is that I hope and pray, man, that God allow me an opportunity to be able to speak to these brothers and sisters and administrators to say, Hey, listen, we need to do something about this. I think it should be mandated that every man or woman or first responder should make no less than $100,000 a year to be able to support them and their family, man.

Amen. I believe that a million % as well. One of my first cousins who's also like a brother to me. I'm going to go ahead and shout out his name. Detective just got rewarded. Detective Torrance Jackson here in Pickens County, South Carolina, so shout out to him.

Oh, congratulations.

Absolutely. Brother Hicks, man, for anyone that wants to follow you, what's the best place to follow you? And then I'm going to have a couple of follow-ups, too.

Okay, well, I'm actually on Instagram. I'm still standing under Raymond Hicks. I'm on Facebook under Raymond Hicks. And Of course, I'm on Twitter, but I never really use Twitter. My email address is raymanhicks2305@gmail. Com. I'll give you guys my phone number because one of the things that I made a promise to God, and Brother Hunt, you won't believe how many lives I've helped save, man. Guys who have actually been in law enforcement that was contemplated taking their own lives until they saw my video. One of the promises that I made to God is that if someone reaches out to me, I would reach out to them. My email address is raymanhicks2305@gmail. Com. My personal phone number is 954-347-3361. Of course, I am the author of the book title, I'm Still Standing by Raymond Hicks. I do have a go fund me where I'm able to help a lot of the kids through my foundation. The money that I generate, I'm actually ready to put a sizzle together and a trailer with some other people like Matthew Cox. If you see, my YouTube has hit 6.8 million, 1.5 million. There's another video he just put out on the 27th of November, and it's almost up to 600,000 viewers right now as we speak.

As I said to him, I say the same thing to you, Brother Hunt, God will continue to elevate you, my brother, and you will receive the extraordinary blessings from the Lord because of the things that you're doing. I watched a lot of your podcast and the people that you brought on. But I pray and ask God to continue to elevate you so that your voice and your platform can reach people around the cold, my brother. And I just want to thank you for this opportunity. Please give my love to Ms. Chris until I said thank you so much for all the hard work that she's doing to facilitate and do the thing that she's doing for Unplug. I just pray that God continue to bless you on your platform, man.

Man, I appreciate that more than you know. Like I told you offline and off the air, just honored to be here. You were someone when I lived in South Florida, got to hear your story and someone I didn't know you personally, but I definitely felt you, man. I just want you to know that you are inspirational. You touch people that you don't even realize that you touch. Just honored to spend this time with you today. For everybody that's listening, that's watching, I'm going to make sure in the show notes we have links to the GoFundMe page. I want to put this on your heart. And Raymond is not going to say it. I'm going to say it for him. The amount doesn't matter. We can get people to just support the things that he's doing in the community. The funds that you present, the funds that you share, are going to change and save lives. And that's one promise that I'll make to you. Mic Unplugged will be sending over some funds for this. I challenge my friends that I know are listening to definitely go to the GoFundMe. Those that are listening that I don't know, If you want to do anything for me personally, go to the GoFundMe page to send the show notes in the description, and please just give whatever your heart tells you to give.

Brother Hicks, man, I love you, man. This won't be the last time that we do this. I'm going to make sure that I do my part to support. We're going to reach out to Dion, Coach Prime. We're going to get you guys to meet. We're going to make all this stuff happen, man. I'm not saying me personally, but the atmosphere, the universe is going to make this happen. Brother Hicks, I love you, man.

I love it, too, my brother Hunt. Just know, just for the listeners that's out there, for an example, there was a Caucasian gentleman reached out to me, and he was a federal correction officer officer. Of course, he went through something similar, and he was contemplating some really bad things that I won't be able to share. He happened to stumb across my video, and he called me, and he was in North Carolina, and I called him back. Of course, when I called him, it was such a very touching moment. I said, Sir, this is Raymond Hicks. You call and left a message for me. He said, D. Raymond Hicks? I said, Yes, sir. What does it mean? And he broke down. And he said, Man, I just need to be next to you. And I said, Okay. He said, But I don't have any finances. I don't have any funds. But let me just tell you this. And I told my wife, I said, I'm bringing that brother here. And he came with his wife because he lost everything. His wife and kids walked away from him. He lost his home, his finances, his job. He was really contemplating some really bad things.

And I told I said, Don't worry about it. I'm going to help you get here. And I put him up in a hotel in Sawgrass. And some of the money that I collected from GoFundMe, I actually put him up in the hotel, and I went to the bank, and I took out some funds that I won't tell you how much, but I took out some funds and I gave it to him and his wife. And he came to one of my events, the back to school extravaganza. And if you could see the smile on his face, him and his wife's face, and From there, I took him out to dinner and he said, You don't look like what you've been through. I said, All praises be to my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. And I said, There was a reason why you and I made contact with each other. And from that day to this day, I still love him like he was a brother. And that's the thing. That's why I'm saying to you, Brother Hunt, you continue to let your light shine, my brother. You continue to use your platform. And I just pray that God continue to elevate you to that next level, and I know that he will.

I said the same thing to Matthew Cox, and I say the same thing to you. Matthew Cox never had over 100,000 viewers proud of him interviewing me. Let me just say this to you. Matthew Cox went from 100,000 viewers to now, he's 6.8 million, 1.5 million, almost another million. I say the same thing to you, my brother. So the other rhythm and everything else that's going to come in, it's going to elevate you to that next level so that you can interview people's like myself and others, my brother. So I just want to tell you, man, I love you. I love you. I love you from the bottom of my heart, and there's nothing that you can do about it, man. I just truly thank God for this opportunity, man. Thank you so much, my brother. It mean the world to me.

You mean more, and I love you more than words can ever share. Brother, just thank you so much.

Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you.

Thank you, man. All the viewers and listeners, remember your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

Thank you for tuning in to Mic Unplug. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose, and chasing greatness.

Until next time, stay Unstoppable..