Stalking case between NAACP Macon president, local commissioner will be dropped for now
The Macon NAACP president’s stalking complaint against a local county commissioner is going to be dismissed this week, a Bibb County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.
But local NAACP President Gwenette Westbrooks intends to refile, telling the judge Wednesday, “I’m still being intimidated right here in the courthouse.”
Westbrooks appeared in court Wednesday after filing a protective order on Feb. 7 against District 9 Commissioner Brendalyn Bailey, claiming that she had been threatened and stalked by the sitting commissioner earlier in the year.
Both of them were initially scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 26, but Senior Judge Richard Winegarden rescheduled to Wednesday after Westbrooks’ attorney, Gerald Griggs, was unable to show up to court. Griggs did not appear in court on Wednesday either.
“I have the right to an attorney,” Westbrooks said.
“But your lawyer has to show up for court,” Winegarden responded.
Westbrooks requested Winegarden to reschedule again, but the judge declined, citing Georgia law on stalking petitions, which requires a decision to be made on the petition within 30 days. Winegarden told Westbrooks that she could either go through with the hearing or not, which means that her case against Bailey would be dismissed.
Initially, the local NAACP president agreed to proceed with the hearing, but she changed her mind and told the judge she would refile a new petition once the 30 days are up for the original petition, which would end by Friday.
Westbrooks said she intends to include another instance of intimidation in the new petition. She claims last week, one of Bailey’s family members told her she was a member of the media and took her picture.
Macon NAACP president’s allegations
In Westbrooks’ petition for a restraining order filed on Feb. 7, she claims that an incident occurred in city hall where Bailey called Bibb County deputies to remove the local NAACP president because “I wouldn’t admit I knew her in 2012,” she said in her petition.
That same day, the sitting commissioner had texted Desmond Brown, a board member for the Macon Water Authority, “indicating bodily harm” to Westbrooks and saying that she would continue to pursue Westbrooks until she admitted she knew and worked with her, according to the petition.
The deputy, Wesley Hilliard, arrived at city hall where Elaine Lucas, another MWA board member, explained that he couldn’t remove Westbrooks from city hall if she hadn’t done anything wrong. Hilliard did not ask Westbrooks to leave until Lucas left, according to the petition.
Bailey responded Feb. 24, denying that she had stalked or harassed Westbrooks and requested to modify the protective order so it wouldn’t apply in city hall, where they both frequent. The judge agreed, saying that the protective order would affect her duties as commissioner and would “seriously affect public interest,” court records show.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 12:41 PM.
