Interstate 95 serves as a major asphalt artery along the East Coast, running from Miami all the way to the Canadian border in Maine.

At exit 76 in Georgia lies Liberty County, home to Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield and the center of a controversy involving sheriff's deputies and a bus full of predominantly Black student-athletes.

Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman finds himself defending their actions after videos showed his deputies on April 20 conducting a traffic stop and then searching the luggage of the Delaware State University women's lacrosse team and their coaches.

Travelers, commuters and commercial vehicles all share I-95, said the Georgia State Patrol. Troopers call it a "major corridor" for moving illegal guns, drugs, stolen goods and also as a route for human trafficking. 

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Bowman later said a K9 unit "alerted" to something at the front of the bus, but the search yielded no contraband.  

Though Liberty County's about 66,000 residents are nearly evenly split between Black and white, Bowman became the community's first Black sheriff in December 2020. 

As race-related incidents involving law enforcement grabbed national headlines, Bowman said he ran for sheriff in the hopes he might deflate some of the animus aimed at those sworn to protect and serve.

"In my humble opinion, the things that have been happening throughout our country … have the law enforcement community now in a bad light," Bowman said in a videotaped interview supplied to the Savannah Morning News. "And that’s one of the reasons why I ran for sheriff, so I could try to help turn that around. ... It shouldn’t be us against them."

Through a sheriff's office spokesperson, Bowman declined requests for a follow-up interview.

“I don’t know a lot about the situation other than what I’ve been told,” said Effingham County Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie, who also serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Sheriff's Association, of the bus search. “I’ve known Will Bowman a long time. He’s a good man and I don’t think he’s going to do anything he’s not supposed to do.”

Others who know Bowman call him well-intentioned in his desire to affect change and someone who cares deeply about his community.

That community has mixed feelings on what many call the racial profiling of a group of students and their coaches by deputies Bowman supervises – Dennis Abbgy, Weyman Chapman, Joshua Tilley and Samuel Davis, according to the sheriff's office.

The (Delaware) News Journal reported this week that DSU administrators filed a Civil Rights and Title VI Discrimination Complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Of the incident, Bowman said, “We could have done things a lot better. … There are a lot of things that go on in our country that a lot of people consider to be racial. But here in Liberty County, that is something we do not practice. I do not allow it and I will not let it happen."

A former military serviceman and Georgia State Patrol trooper, Bowman said he has spent his life “serving his country, state and community.”

A graduate of Gordon High School, he lists Decatur, Georgia as his hometown on his Facebook page. According to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office website, he has lived in the county for 15 years. He's been married since 2008 and has five children with his wife Tanya, according to his Facebook and sheriff's office profiles. 

Bowman spent 20 years in the U.S. Army, at one point serving as a drill sergeant, before receiving an honorable discharge in 2005. He received numerous accolades throughout his time in uniform, including the Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Medal. He went on to serve with the Georgia State Patrol for 12 years, where he twice was named Georgia State Trooper of the Year, noted his biography on the sheriff's office website.

Joe Dudley, a Black military veteran like Bowman, has lived in Liberty County the last decade. Dudley said offering an apology to the students and coaches is warranted.

"Granted they pulled the bus over, but once they realized that these are just kids, then let them go and they had the discretion to do so," he said.

He didn't believe the stop was racially motivated and understood that I-95 sees a lot of stops for drug trafficking. 

"I can't always throw out the race card on every matter, but it has to be something else involved to say that's racist," Dudley said. "Ignorance doesn't always mean racist." 

When Andrew Williams learned of the HBCU bus search, he felt bad for his friend. 

“Bowman is a community guy,” said Williams. “... He is a very well-spoken man, very respectful and, at the time I met him, he was a state patrolman. But his persona ... was not what you expect. He was cool as a cucumber. He was very rational.”

Williams is a mentor for the Eleven Black Men of Liberty County, a program that mentors young boys. Bowman participated in a golf tournament to raise funds for the organization.

“He really loves the county and is always concerned about doing the right thing in the county,” said Bowman's pastor, Herman Scott of Baconton Missionary Baptist Church in Allenhurst, Georgia. Scott said Bowman has been attending his church since 2016.

Williams noted how many in the Black community want to see Bowman administer some sort of punishment to the deputies involved in the search of the DSU-chartered bus. But he is asking neighbors to exercise patience as authorities continue to investigate the matter.

“You can’t just punish people," Williams said. "Is it tough? Yes. It’s a high-profile position. If I had to give him some advice, it would be stand on your truth.”

State Rep. Al Williams of Midway, Georgia said he was shocked when he learned of the incident he feels has reflected negatively on Liberty County.

"The way it was handled; I don’t feel good about it," Al Williams said. "I think it was excessive. I have a problem with a search for a very simple traffic stop. As a state, we need to address probable cause.”

But he went on to call Bowman a “good man,” having known him for years.

“He is a good sheriff,” said the state representative. "His character is impeccable."

Al Williams said he walked into Bowman’s office May 9 to have a discussion about the incident, but he declined to give details of their conversation. He went on to say he believes the county will bounce back from the incident.

“Liberty County has great leadership and we will take care of it,” he said. “... This, too, shall pass.”

Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham counties. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.

USA Today reporter Asha Gilbert and Georgia GO Team state reporter Abe Kenmore contributed to this story.