Raymond Hicks
Appearances
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, it's your only way out, man. You know, it's the only way out is with your athletic ability. And, you know, my family, man, I grew up around killers, man. You know, I mean, if my mom and dad was plunging knives into each other's body and he eventually shot my mom, he even shot his own best friend, you know, because they said he touched my mom's leg.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, I wasn't there during the time, but this is what I was informed. And it was my dad's best friend. His name was Mr. Knott. And, of course, you know, he went up under the tree where they played dominoes and cards and stuff. They drank, you know, smoke and all this other stuff. And... That's where my dad found him at. And my dad said, Matt, did you touch my wife's leg?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And he said, if I touch the leg, what you going to do? He said, I'm going to shoot you, man, if you tell me you touched my wife's leg. And of course, he said, yeah, I touched her. And my dad pulled out a Chrome 32 with a pearl handle, from what I was told, Mr. Hunt. And I know for me, being in law enforcement, that when he tried to shoot him in his face, from what I was told,
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Daddy jerked the trigger, you know? It's like when you shoot, if you ain't squeezing and you jerking it, the ground is not going to go where you anticipated going, you know? 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
When you come from the hood, a lot of these young athletes, man, trying to get out, you know, they want to make something out of themselves, and the only way they can come out of this type of environment It's from the athletic ability, you know, and that's what I was striving on. You know, I said, I'm going to make it to the pros, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I know I'm making the pros, whether it be basketball, football or track, you know, and I was determined, my brother. And I tell you, it's just amazing to me because, you know, when you grew up in poverty, you know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So the things that I witnessed and I saw and, you know, I'm saying to myself, I don't want this for me, man. You know, 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 to Missouri. She said, Missouri? She said, son, you know, why would you go so far? You don't know nobody. I said, I know one person that was Mark Bellamy.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I decided to go to Missouri, you know, and it really changed my life, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Yeah. So when I first got hired at the Broward Sheriff's Office, you know, and detention, working in the jail, you know, I used to hear the cries of brothers and sisters saying, hey, man, you know, they planting drugs on us. They beating us to the ground. They taking money from us. You know, and one of the guys that I grew up with, we call him Gaston Aikens.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
We call him G. Fress, but his name is Gaston Aikens. And of course, gee, you know, he was out in the streets, man, robbing and, you know, selling drugs and everything else. And 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, gee. I said, what about your wife and kids?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Man, you was one of the ones that made it out the hood, man. I said, so can you, gee. I said, you need to change your life around, man. So the third time that he went to prison, Mr. Hunt, He actually took up a trade, you know, operating backhoes. And of course, when he came home, he got a job as a construction worker and
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And that brother went from just a regular construction worker to a foreman and to a superintendent. And now he owns his own construction company. You know, his sons actually worked out with the Miami Dolphins. His name was Jonathan Akins and also Marquis Aiken. You know, so people can change, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, it just takes someone to inspire them and teach them about, hey, man, what you going to do with your life, man? You know, you sit here, you're going through all of this stuff. You know, what about your family? And a lot of times, you know, when you're growing up in poverty, people don't care about their family, man. You know, the family's involved in all kinds of crazy stuff.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I got killers in my family, man. I got young people in my family been selling drugs, own drugs, robbing, home invasion, and everything else that you can think of. So I didn't, you know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I risked my life so many different times. you know, to earn the awards that I received from that agency. For an example, in 1997, there was a gentleman who actually came from the psychiatric ward and he punched one of our sergeants in the face and he was trying to toss him over the rail.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, 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. You know, the deputy panicked. He didn't do anything, and he was 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
He was knocked out cold, you know. And they were trying to move him back downstairs to general population. He didn't want to go, you know. And there was a big brother too, man. He was about 6'2", 270, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I mean, it was like somebody taking one of those hot combs that you put on the stove back in the days, you know what I mean? And it straightened 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, you know? And the inmates went to screaming out, man, Big Hicks gonna kill you, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 crisscrossing each other and they had to take bone fragments out right here. And I lost my knuckle right here. So, yeah, so we both went to the hospital that day, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 died. really did some real serious damage to the sergeant, you know, Dermot Tarkis. And they gave me the Silver Cross Award. And 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I thought it was an armed robbery. So I see this car coming down the street, and I was in civilian clothing. And when the light turned red, I saw the taxi cab stop. But there was two black individuals in the car. So when the light turned green, the car merged into the fence. So 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So as I stopped to break up the fight, Brother Hunt, I discovered they wrestled over .357 Magnum. One round went through the roof of the car. The subject took a chunk out of the victim's eye. They both were saying, he's robbing me, he's robbing me. So going back to my special training that I had, you know, I had to secure that weapon. So what I did is I did a redirect.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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, called communication. Hey, I need his papa's in the air. I need a perimeter set up. I gave my location. I told him who I was. You know, I gave my CCN number.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Yeah, so my name is Raymond Lamar Hicks, and I was born in Vero Beach, Florida, but I grew up in a place called Gifford, as well as also here in Fort Lauderdale. And, you know, I just remember when I was about maybe eight or nine years of age, you know, there was always chaos in my home where there was stabbing, cutting. My mother was shot. My dad went to prison. So...
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 Six Strong, which is one of the worst areas here in Broward County. He gets into the taxi and and have the taxi take him off for Oakland Park at 21st Avenue.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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. And at this time, he was robbing him. So, of course, it was an armed carjacking. I thought it was an armed robbery, but it was an armed carjacking. I went to, it was in 1999, I went to Gold Cross Award.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
That's the highest award that anyone can receive without getting killed in the line of duty.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Yeah, so going back to 1990, you know, the Broward Sheriff's Office 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 him, I said, you know, how could the Broward Sheriff's Office be manufacturing their own drugs and give it to us to be sold in the street?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So they pulled several of us out of the jail, you know, blacks. And if you had any type of street mentality, Brother Hunt, they want to use you for these sting operations, you know, like... 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 some cocaine rocks.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 and everything, you know, and it was just, 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 a state penitentiary.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, so if you get caught within a thousand feet of a school, you automatically get a mandatory three years in a Florida state prison.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I remember the cops coming to my home, and this is after my mom and dad just finished plunging knives into each other's body. And the cops would put me aside, you know, saying, hey, little man, come here. You know, let me talk to you. And, of course... And they pulled me aside, you know, taking me from the work that was going on.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Well, you know, I told him, I said, you know, this is entrapment, you know. How is it that we manufactured the drugs and you guys are giving it to us? And granted, the cocaine rock was in a Ziploc package and it had a serial number on it. And the money that they was giving us was marked money.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So a lot of times what we did is that we would take informants, a person who had gone out there and committed a crime, and that person, we would give them cocaine rocks and the money. They would go into a certain particular location, and they would make the transaction with the subject and come back and give us the intel.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So when they come back and tell us who these people are, so what we had with the backup unit would move in, and they would arrest these individuals, and then we'd get out and pose as undercover dealers. I had three goals in my mouth, you know, which is another indication that, you know, I'm a part of the street, you know, which in fact, I ain't never been a part of the streets.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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. And they told me I shouldn't mind my business. And I told them, what you mean, mind my business? And of course, I just made a decision that I was going to stop selling drugs
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I went and got a job working for a boot camp. They chose me to go to Fort McCollum Drill Sergeant School in order to get certified as a drill instructor because the Broward Sheriff's Office was implementing their own boot camp program. So I went to Fort McCollum, me and several other individuals, and it was really hard, man. It was physically hard, mentally hard, academically it was hard.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, these drill instructors was not going to give you anything if you didn't earn it, you know. And of course, I went through that course. I passed it. And I came back, um, to Broward County. As a matter of fact, while I was there, brother hunt, I called my wife. I told her, I say, listen, you go ahead and send me a ticket, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I arrived on Sunday and that Thursday I was ready to come back home because it was just that intense. You know, it was just that hard, you know? And, um, But one of the drill instructors said to me, he said, if you guys going to put other people through the same type of regiment training that we put you through, this is the reason why we actually have you going through this program.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So you will be able to understand the distinguish between turn it on and turn it off, which means that you break a person down, but you help rehabilitate that person and make them a stronger person. And 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
When you look at me, I mean, you would think that I was actually served in the United States Army, Marines, or even the Navy. I mean, I was just that sharp, man. My boots, you can literally see yourself And with my boots, my uniform, it was so pressed that, you know, you think it cut you, you know, because that's something that I took pride in, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
They began to, you know, counsel me, you know, said, hey, this is the blackjack, which was two leather straps with steel at the end of the two leather straps, then the handcuffs. And then they talked to me about the importance of the gun, you know, and they were saying maybe one day you could be, you know, become one of us, a law enforcement officer.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, I want to set the tone and example for those individuals that was coming through the bootcamp 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. You know, it took something for me to come out of that type environment to be the person that I am now.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And this is the reason why, you know, I'm a drill instructor to inspire you, to lead you and guide you in the right direction.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So, of course, you know, as I was working in boot camp, I decided to go through the Crossover Academy from correction to law enforcement. So I finished the academy. I was going to school at night from 4 to 10 up in Palm Beach. I graduated from there. And then I came back and I began to work narcotics again. I worked with Drug Task Force, OCD, which is organized crime in the cradle.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And, of course, I'm watching these individuals now. They plant drugs on black offenders and beat them to the ground and taking money. I mean, they were busting their head open with this PR-24. It was a flashlight that carried D batteries. But we called it PR-24, but it's actually a flashlight that we used to have on that we carried on our side.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So it was during that time that I said to myself as a little kid, you know, if I didn't make it in football, which was my aspiration, you know, I would go into law enforcement to make a difference. And, of course, granted, you know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I mean, they were splitting these guys' heads open, man, you know, where they putting staples and everything else in their head. And it got to a point, Brother Hunt, that the way that they were beating these blacks, man, I got so angry. And I admit that I was wrong, but I started knocking the white folks out, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Every time I made a transaction with them, you know, 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?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
But, you know, again, I was wrong for that, you know, but I just felt like, you know, why are you 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 the cops on my dad when he was doing wrong. You know, when they was fighting and everything else, I would dial 911.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, so I felt like it was the right thing to do, you know. And it just got to a point, man, where I'm watching these folks take money. You know, because the one particular area that we was on, the Sunrise and 4th Avenue and 6th Street, they was actually had, Dee's brother was selling cocaine rocks for $40, $50, $60.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So the commander would give us X amount of rocks, you know, we'd 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 paddock wagon, and they've been taken downtown. You should be going to jail yourself.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
They told me again, I need to mind, you need to mind your business. What the freak you mean mind my business? You know, and it just got, it just got worse from there, man. You know what I mean? Because 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 know, you can put me back in the jail.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 ship 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, 530. You know, I had like 600 some pounds in my backyard.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, and of course, me and my neighbors, one of the sergeant's sons, you know, they used to come and work out with me every day. And there I am getting ready to go in my backyard and work out. I look across the street and I'm like, that's either the SWAT team or the Georgia Task Force mounting up. And when they saw me, Brother Hunt,
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
They all jumped in their cars, and they sped 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 Winn-Dixie, which was like maybe a couple blocks from the house, you know. Man, they had me and my kids at gunpoint. They had my 12-year-old daughter and my 7-year-old daughter at gunpoint, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
60-some cops throwing me at gunpoint. And they was saying, hey, are you Ray Hicks? 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 arrest? 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, Hicks. I said, what you mean, Ricky?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
What the freak you mean? Calm down. I'm looking at him like, because if they had told me what they were coming to get me from 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, there I was going to school. But one of the things that he did, Brother Hunt, was he taught me how to fight. So I've been fighting ever since I was six years of age. You know, he bought me a sock and back and he said, you know, each time you punch, you better touch it, you know. And if you don't touch it, I'm going to touch you.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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. You know, so my daughter get on the phone. She called my wife. Hey, mom, they got data here. You know, the police got data here. And Rob Shaw came to me, hey, wait, we're going to place you on suspension pending the outcome of this case. I'm like, what case?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
What case? You guys ain't show me no warrant. And what case are you talking about? Well, we can't discuss it right now. What you mean you can't discuss it? So they go in there looking, 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's department.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So they hurry up and handcuff me. and put me in a marked unit and transported me over to District 5. So when I arrived to 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 it. You know, we can't discuss it. Right. What do you mean you can't discuss it? You can't tell me what. OK, let me talk to a lawyer.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
They wouldn't even give me an opportunity to call a lawyer, you know, nor did they ever read me my Miranda, you know. And so, 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 here to take you to court. Okay, for what? Well, we can't get into it, Ray.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, we just here to transport you to court. So they handcuffed me, my brother, with the handcuffs like this in front of me. They shackled me, you know, and they had the chains intertwined with the handcuffs and shackles. They put me in an unmarked unit and transported me over to the federal courthouse. So when I arrived over there, my wife and my mom sitting there in the courthouse, you know,
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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, like, what the freak is this woman talking about, man? And then she actually profited the courts.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
She said that I went to various states that live in 350 kilograms of cocaine that was equivalent to $750 million. Wow.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And, of course, you know, I became so efficient with my hand that every time I punched his Sockenbach, it was a ball that stood up on like a little pole. And when you punch it, it go in different directions. And, of course, my hand got so good, my brother, that, you know, each time that ball I punched and it went different direction, I was touching it, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So basically, the magistrate judge, she said, you're not a flight risk. She said, but you're a menace to society.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I'm a menace to society. I ain't never been in trouble my entire life. I was a holiday grade officer. Never been in trouble. 15 years on the force. I'm a menace. You know? So, of course, she slammed the gavel, told the marshals to come in and escort me out. So, of course, they take me to the holding cell.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I'm going in the holding cell where there was five other guys who I used to work out with at the gyms. And all of us was big dudes, man. You know, 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? You know?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
They're like, come on, Big Hicks, man. You tripping, man. I'm like, which one of you said something about me? Because really, I'm ready to tear their head off their body, man. You know, 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 nobody, none of us ain't said nothing about you, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
This is crazy. And, of course, they hurry up and take us out. They give us a bag lunch and take me down to the federal prison, man. I get down there, and these people treated me inhumane. You know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
It's a certain way that you script search your inmate, Brother Hunt, you know. And I know this because when I worked in a jail, you know, and the way that they tried to treat me, man, it was inhumane. I mean, literally inhumane. You know, when you script search your inmate, you know, if they got hair, you have to run their finger through the hair You know, you haven't lifted up their tongue.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And it came a point where the teacher asked me, you know, Miss Kirby asked me to read a sentence in class. And, of course... I couldn't read, I couldn't write, you know. And I got up and I tried to do the best that I could. And the kids began to laugh at me, you know. And I said, okay, you want to laugh? You wait after class.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You haven't turned around. You know, they lift up the bottom of their feet. And, of course, you haven't been at the waist and spread the cheeks and cough, you know. 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, and they took me and put me in a hole.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I stayed in the hole for five months. I stayed in the hole for five months. But I remember Ray Lewis, how when he went to jail, he was doing push-ups. And the only way I could really go to sleep, you know, my brother was to actually, I started doing 1,000 to 1,500 push-ups every other night, you know. And when they brought the food to me, if it wasn't a hot dog or hamburger, I was going to eat it.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Because I felt like they were spitting my fool, you know? And these officers, they were jigging at me every single day, man. You that effing cop. I hope you call for the rest of your life. You that crooked cop. You know, I said, I ain't never been a crooked cop. And furthermore, I've been here for something that I didn't do. Yeah, that's what they all said.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I said, I don't know what they all say, but I'm telling you what I'm saying. I don't have a right to be here and I shouldn't be here. You know, and I say first and furthermore, you guys are not professional. I said, none of you guys are professional. 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 in here locked up for something that I have not done. You know, and it just got to a point, my brother, that I'm ready to fight with all of them.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, I started, there's an emergency button inside the unit, and I started pushing the button, like, repeatedly. Because now, when you stay, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Because to be in there for days and months, I don't know if you ever seen the movie Reuben Hurricane Carter, where Denzel was actually in the hole. And, you know, yeah, you saw hallucinated, man. You know, it's like the walls are caving in on you. Like you could put your arms out there, you know, and like you could test the walls. I mean, this is the type of stuff that you experience, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And they feed you like you some dog. You know, they let down the cover slot. You know, they call it a feeding porting hole where you let the tray down and then you put the tray on there, you know, and it's total darkness. You're 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You only come out for one hour a day for recreation. And 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 will 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Trust me when I tell you that. Because that man treated me with respect. You know, he had them come and get me and bring me to his office. You know, 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 tear their head off, brother Hunt. May God be my witness on everything I love, you know?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And as soon as after class was over, you know, there was no talking with me. I started, you know, going upside their head, you know. And 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. And that's when, you know, I begin to explain to her. I say, ma'am, I don't have anyone to help me.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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, He said, Mr. Hicks, he said, listen, man, you know, you was one of us at one time. I said, yes, I was one of myself. I was never one of these guys who you got out here working for you. I said, you know, he said, well, what can I do for you?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 defense. That's one thing you can't do. You know what I mean? You do a three-way, your phone privilege is done, you know?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So, of course, she gives me a phone call. I call my wife. I'm talking to her, you know, and she's telling me about all these things that she's going through and what she's 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, you know, as a husband, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
That's on everything I love, man. And, um, After that phone call, he said, Mr. Hicks, he said, listen, the only other way you're going to be able to, you know, talk to your family on a regular basis is to go down to general population. I said, I don't care where you put me, man. You can put me wherever. I'm on my own. So they put me down in general population.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I was down there with eight guys who I had arrested or I was over when they came through the county jail, man. And, you know, and as soon as I got to the unit, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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, you know, he lived in Tatertown. We called him blind because he had those thick glasses. But his name was Maurice, you know. So, of course, he was like, man, you know who that is? Man, that's Big Hicks.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
He come from where we come from. He gone thump. You tripping, man. So he saw my picture parade over the newscast. He done formulated an opinion about me, you know. 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 is. So all these inmates gathered around the door. That's what they do.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, when you get ready to fight, they all gathered around, you know, to block the office from 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I hit him with so many lefts and rights, man, that 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. You know? And the dude was like, yo, Big Homie. They gave me the name Big Homie. Big Homie, come on, man. You gonna kill him. I was trying to kill him. You know?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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. And when the brother was sitting at the same dude at the table, man, I was getting ready to rip his throat, man. I was getting ready to cut his throat, brother Hunt.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, I mean, 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, you know, and I said, I don't have anyone to help me. I was getting D's and F's, my brother. And of course,
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And one of the dudes, the Robert Harris, 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's department. He said, Sarge, come on, man. Don't do this, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
When you're looking at me, brother, you're looking at my dad, man. Right. You know? You're looking at me. My father and I are identical, you know? My mom will tell you to this day. My wife will tell you to this day. You know, my mom, she say anytime she get mad at me, she said, OK, Raymond, Raymond Lamar Hicks. She referred to me as my dad. I told her I'm not like my father.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Don't want to be like him. You know, it won't be like him. But one thing is for sure, you know, you ain't going to pump me. I'm going to tell you right now. I had to let all of them know, but, you know, don't try me. You better try somebody else, you know what I mean? Because I'm not going to lay down. And I just questioned God, man. I said, Lord, why me? And God said, why not you?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, when you grow up in the hood, you know, a lot of times your parents are not even concerned about the grades that you get, you know, and they don't even ask you what type of grades are you receiving, you know, 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 D's and F's to C's and D's to A, B's and C's.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And do you not know, my brother, the Lord spoke to me and says, 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 Iglesia, getting brothers up in the morning and the afternoon and night to come into the chapel, man, just to pray, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And as a matter of fact, I won a life-saving award, Brother Hunt, while I was an inmate. And I was honored by the warden of the institution.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, I felt vindicated, you know, and, you know, going back to that day, September 26th of 01, you know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
But I remember on September 26th of 01, where they had us walking down this long corridor and they had chose 11 whites, one black and one black alternate, all business people. And brother, let me tell you something, brother Hunt. I had a chill that came over my body, man, that I can't even describe to you. It felt like I was in Alaska with no clothes on, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
It was like a chill that I couldn't stop it, you know. But I remember walking down this long corridor, man, and the shocker was literally like cutting into my ankles, you know. I don't know if I felt like somebody had a razor blade cut at my ankles every time you take a step, man, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And that's why you see a lot of these inmates, they take the pants leg and they try and put like 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, you know. And I tell you, man, when I got back in that courtroom and saw the jurors that they had chose, you know, the D.A., I'm saying to myself, this is crazy.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, they offered me 16 and a half months. I was incarcerated for 11 and a half months. They said, you'll go home in three months. I told him the devil is a liar. I'm going to trust God and know that God going to deliver me. I refuse to accept time served. I'm not going to go in there and admit to something I didn't do. So they had to get rid of the court appointed attorneys.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I was able to earn myself a scholarship. But prior to 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 Vero Beach High School, football, basketball, and track. I set records. And of course, I was about 17 years of age.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
They were trying to force me to take time, my brother. I found out, you know, that the DA give them a bonus. So when some of these brothers and sisters take a plea, the DA give them a bonus just for you taking a plea. You know, 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 of you get a bonus for someone taking a plea?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
The person could be innocent like myself.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
so of course you know i'm so grateful to god man you know uh those guys they got off my case finally my wife went through her thrift saving he was a federal prosecutor his name was michael bloom and mr bloom never lost the case in 15 years you know 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 one when i see one
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 Record, this man had a mustache that was rolled up at the end. And they said he would give you a million years if he found out that you was guilty, right? And he asked him, he says, what are drugs? No drugs. Where the money? No money. He says, so why this man here?
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So they lied and said I was giving confidential law enforcement information. So my attorney subpoenaed the communication operator, Captain Muniz, who worked in the capacity for 25 years. She came and she testified, Mr. Hicks has not read this information. How you determine who run it is through your social security number.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And there's a sign-in 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. And 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 infuriated.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You would have thought that the gal was shouted all over the floor because he called for sidebar. You know, he said sidebar. You can hear the static in the background. He said, for impeachment purposes, everything y'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, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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, right, who was arrested by the Brown Sheriff's Office on January 11th of 2000, just a few months prior to me being arrested on June 15th of 2000.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
He chased the man down the street, Mr. Eddie Frazier, because Mr. Frazier 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 for aggravated assault with a firearm. So BSO give this man $15,000. They give him $20,000. They debrief him.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
The Broward Sheriff's Office investigators 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I pointed my finger at them that I was going to shoot the two of them. So my attorney subpoenaed his wife, Shirley Pat. She came and she testified. So my attorney say, Miss Pratt. Before your testimony, have you ever seen my client sitting next to me? She said, no, I've never seen this man before.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And we had a basketball game and we normally stop at like McDonald's, you know, at the conclusion of the game. And of course, I asked my mom if she could give me two dollars. And she scraped up, you know, all the nickels, quarters, dimes that she could muster. And she couldn't even give me two dollars. But what she did, there was a grocery store called Piggly Wiggly.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
He said, please take a good look at him because your husband just profited to the courts that on December 24th of 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. Wow. So the case were presented to the jury.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So 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, like, a banana, an orange juice, and a bologna sandwich, you know. And not even just a few minutes later, the marshals came and said, the jury has reached a verdict.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And, 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 him, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 transpired within the case, you know. And I said, I hope and pray that you guys find it in your heart, you know, and to see what's been done to us, you know, because it's not right. And of course, they took us back. They gave us a bag lunch.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And then the marshals came and said, hey, the jury has reached a verdict. And I came back in. And my kids, my wife was there, and I think, I don't know if my mom was with her, but they had come to court and other people from the sheriff's office, you know, to support me. And that's another thing.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
The people who came to support me, the Broward Sheriff's Office, the Internal Affairs Division, was harassing these peoples, man. You know? 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I sent you guys a tape so you can hear it for yourself. You know, I'm saying to myself, this is, but in a way, the jury deliberated and they came back with it. They said, the judge say, has the jury reached a verdict? So the foreman stood up and he said, yes, Your Honor, we the jury has reached a verdict. And he says, as it relates to Raymond Lamar Hicks, we find the defendant not guilty.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And they had the brown paper bags. And, of course, you know, 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 a bag that the coach gave me, you know, where you put your shoes and your equipment in. And when everybody got off the bus to go into McDonald's, I sat on the bus, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Well, you know, after being exonerated, Brother Hunt, I must mention to you, and I make it brief, the Broward Sheriff's Office, they stormed my home a second time at gunpoint. Another six and some cops on January 6th of 04 said I was shooting at someone in my backyard. Of course, I take that case to trial, you know, before the judge. And there was a white guy who showed up in my yard.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
My wife showed him the documents. And within seconds, they dissipated. They were all gone. So they sent me a letter in the mail saying that I discharged a firearm. And when I take the case to trial, the judge said, Judge Steven DeLuca in Deerfield, he said, so where's the victim? There's no victim. Did you do a ballista test? No. Where's the bullet casing? There's none.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
He said, so why would you bring a former deputy in my courtroom, one of your own, and you said that he committed these heinous crimes? You have nothing. So I was tried by the court, sir. And I was acquitted by the judge. So what I did, I begin to fast and pray, you know, as I always do now, building that intimate relationship with the Lord. And of course, um, I went back into the community.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I got a job working in bootcamp, elite military Academy, and I helped 25 kids accomplish your high school diploma GED. And with the help of my wife and my daughter, I helped my mother. At the age of 55, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
But I could tell you he'd been working for the county now for 26 years, you know, and so I win this prestigious award in 2004, the African American Achievers Award. And it's given to the person who actually go within their community to make a difference. And it's actually given to you from a philanthropist, Mr. Jim Moran from the Southeast Toyota distributor.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And when I won, they was given $1,000 to each honoree. 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
They left it on my answer machine. I called 911, a communication dispatcher unit to my home, Rick Watson. I said, Rick, listen to this here, man. He said, Ray, be careful. You know how these people play. I said, the only thing I need you to do is a 98A 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
But my, 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 book it. 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You can't discuss it, but you're telling me you got a warrant for my arrest. And, um, There was a black gentleman named Robert Crumb 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, you know, and he was started telling him, put the epic cuffs on him like I told you to.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 Davenport. His name is Ron Davenport. He said, hey, Coach, you know, Hicks don't have any money. You know, he's still sitting on the bus.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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, you know, He said, Ray, you can't get your arms behind you, man. So, of course, I get downtown, and one of the guys who I helped get on with the sheriff's department in detention, his name was Richard Lee.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So I said, Lee, he was working booking. So he said, man, if Hicks is violent, man, I could calm him down, you know, because he called me Big D. I called him Little D. And, of course, he said, what's strange about this, on the PC, there is no victim, but they charge you with child abuse.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I said, child abuse? I'm like, I just won the highest award in the community. I ain't never touched my own kids. So the prosecutor did a thorough investigation. She threw the case out, no prosecution. So to answer your question, Brother Hunt, you know, all of this stuff that I've gone through, my brother, it built more of a relationship with Christ.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, um, I built an intimate relationship with the Lord. I pray every day, all day, every day. I constantly watch Deion Sanders.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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, you know, productive citizen out in society, to be fathers, you know, um, husbands or whatever the case may, you know, good citizens, man, you know, and, um,
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And 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, you know? Yeah. That's just something that I think they do in the hood, you know, in the ghetto that we refer to as poverty. And, of course, he says, Ray, you get off this bus from this day forward.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
One day I'm going to get a chance to meet that brother and I'm going to share some things with him, you know, because his upbringing is almost similar to mine. You know what I mean? But in a way, you know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And on top of that, I actually have a foundation called the Raymond L. Hicks LLC Foundation, where I give back to the underprivileged kids. So my wife and I, me and my family, for the last... what 15, about 20 years now, you know, we have a back to school extravaganza.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I sent you some of the pictures through Tyler to show you the different things that we, it's a big cookout, you know, and a lot of the money, it comes from out of our own pocket. You know, I don't have a lot of money, brother.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, I basically, I get a little bit of something that's donated, you know, from other people, but the majority of the money that it comes out of my hard work, my hard earned money,
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
money that i work for as a security officer you know but one thing is for sure you know 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 the ketchup 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 bologna a loaf of bread i see him on friday you know
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Mr. Friendly's store was just torn down just recently, you know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 didn't like my job. I love my job. And you can 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I'm talking about white, Hispanics and blacks. And it's a shame, it's a disgrace what they've done to me, my brother. And would you believe My story went viral when I interviewed with Ms. Jane Turner. She was former FBI, Mr. Mike Zuber, former FBI, and Mr. Bobby Latigard, and Mr. Jeremiah Johnson.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And when I interviewed with them, it was through Mr. Tom Devine, who actually created the Whistleblower Act back in 1978. So he said he wanted me to talk to them and tell them my story. So when she interviewed me, it was titled, They Told Me to Mind My Own Business. And she said, Mr. Hicks, let me just tell you this. I read your book. I looked over all the documents that you sent.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You're not a criminal. You're a hero. She said, if you was moving that type of weight and money, you wouldn't have been arrested by your department, the Broward Sheriff's Office. You'd have been arrested by DEA, FBI, ATF, and the marshals. She said, anyone that works in law enforcement knows that to be a fact. And just recently,
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I'm going to pay for your dinner, you know, and that's what he did, you know. And finally, I told my mom that. 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. You know, I had offers from the Gators, UM, a lot of cats that I played ball with.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I was on the news, my brother, you know, 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. Pryor, you know, basically saying, hey, you know, this is what happened to me, you know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, and thank God, man, I was able to address the situation. And now you see Mr. Pierre from CNN. You see Dr. Ritchie from Indisputable and some of these other huge platforms, man, speaking about the fact that Broward Sheriff was a manufacturer on crack and give it to us to be sold in the street, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
But to this day, I still love law enforcement, Brother Hunt, and I must put that out there. And 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Some of these people making $50,000, $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 know, you wind up there, there's infidelity and everything else that goes on.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Okay, well, I'm actually on Instagram, you know, and 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 used Twitter, you know. And of course, you know, My email address is RaymondHicks2305 at gmail.com.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I 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. And one of the promises that I've made to God is that if someone reaches out to me, I will reach out to them.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So my email address is RaymondHicks2305 at gmail.com. My personal phone number is 954-347-3361. You know, and of course, I am the author of the book title, I'm Still Standing by Raymond Hicks. I do have a GoFundMe. where I'm able to, you know, help a lot of the kids through my foundation.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So the money that I generate, you know, I'm actually ready to put a sizzle together, you know, and a trailer with some other people like Matthew Cox. If you see, my YouTube has hit 6.8 million. You know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, they played ball for University of Miami, like Dale Dawkins. James Stewart. Some of these guys, they looked up to me, you know. But in a way, I decided to go to Missouri. A friend of mine that I grew up with, you know, he was like, yo, Ray, this is a great school, man. Why don't you come out here? Which was a Division II. It wasn't a Division I school, but it was a Division II.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So as I said to him, I say the same thing to you, Brother Hunt, you know, 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 podcasts and the people's action that you brought on.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
But I pray and ask God to continue to elevate you so that your voice and your platform can reach people around the globe, my brother. And I just want to thank you for this opportunity. Please give my love to Miss Chris, you know, until I said thank you so much for all the hard work that she's doing, you know, to facilitate and do the thing that she's doing, you know, for Mick Unplugged.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I just pray that God continue to bless you and your platform, man, you know.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I love it too, Brother Hunt. And 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. And of course, he went through something similar and he was contemplating some really bad things that I won't be able to share.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And he happened to stumble across my video and he called me and he was in North Carolina and I called him back. And of course, when I called him, you know, it was such a very touching moment. You know, he says, I said, sir, you know, this is Raymond Hicks. You called and left a message for me. He said, D Raymond Hicks. I said, yes, sir. This is me.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And he broke down, you know, and he said, man, I just, I just need to be next to you. And I said, okay. You know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And of course, I told my mom, I said, Mom, I'm going to need money, you know, to go to Missouri. And she scraped up. My mother was a migrant worker. You know, she worked at Hogan & Son packing house, making a dollar an hour. My dad worked there also. And of course, she scraped up these $99 and she put me on that Greyhound bus. I was on that bus for three days and three nights.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
He lost his home, his finances, his job. He was really contemplating some really bad things. And I told him, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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 face, you know, and from there, I took him out to dinner and he said, you know, you don't look like what you've been through.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I said, all praises to 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I just pray that God continue to elevate you to that next level. And I know that he will. And I said the same thing to Matthew Cox. And I say the same thing to you. Matthew Cox never had over 100,000 viewers prior to him interviewing me. And let me just say this to you. Matthew Cox went from
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
100,000 viewers to now is 6.8 million, 1.5 million, almost another million, you know, and I say the same thing to you, my brother. So to all the 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 like myself and others, my brother. So I just want to tell you, man, I love you. I love you.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I love you from the bottom of my heart. you know, 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 means the world to me.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I'll never forget it, Brother Hunt. We arrived at Nashville, Tennessee. And when I arrived there... You know, 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. And when we arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, there was an older white lady.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
She said, young man, you and I have been on this bus for three days and three nights now. I haven't seen you eat anything. And she gave me a bologna sandwich and a banana. And I swear to God, you'd have thought I was eating a porterhouse steak, my brother. It was Thanksgiving, huh? Yes, sir. You know, I was so happy, you know, that God brought it to my life, you know, because I had no money.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I had nothing, man. The only thing I had was a black footlocker. 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I ran like a 43540. And then he said, come on, let's run it again. Run it over. I ran a 43740. And from that day, you know, my life kind of like took off, you know, where the Booster Club and everybody, you know, I scored every game. And I was determined, man, to become a professional football player, even from a Division II school.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, I was run up for Ricky of the Year Award 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, a 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So they gave her orders to go to Scotland. And during this time, you know, her and I, we was engaged. And I'm like, you know what? The only way we can keep you from going to Scotland is to get you pregnant. So that's how our first daughter come about. And I left school. You know, I didn't have a father in my life, man. My dad walked away from us when I was about 12 years of age.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So I didn't have that father figure in my life to sit down and talk to me and, you know, coach me along the way, you know. So I just basically went off my own instincts because I've always said that, you know, if I have a family, I don't want to walk away from my family.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I want to be there for them, you know, because it's so important that you got both parents in the home and not just one, you know, because it took a strong person, man, you know, to raise a especially young men like myself, you know, who come from the gutter, man. You know, I come from the bottom, brother Hunt. I mean, it was so difficult for us, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I just said to myself, you know, I'm going to do what's right. And my mother had to sign the consent in order for us to get married, you know, because my wife was stationed in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was on the USS Simon Lake. And I got a job working at the shipyard there. And I worked there until
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
I told my wife, I said, you know, 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. So 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And of course, I always said that, you know, this would be my home, you know, as a young kid. So I arrived here and I got a job working construction and at the 110 Tower, which is right across the street from the courthouse. And I was doing construction work. And I said, no, I'm not going to do this long. So I went and applied for the Broward Sheriff's Office.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
So 11-17-1986 is when I tried for the Broward Sheriff's Office and I was hired by them as a detention officer.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Good evening, my brother. How you doing, Brother Hunt? Just want to thank you and God, you know, and Mick Unplugged for this opportunity to speak about, you know, these things that have taken place in my life. My brother, just want to tell you that I love you, man.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
And I just pray that God continue to elevate you and take you to levels that you have not seen before, you know, so that you may reach everybody. I mean, even internationally. You know, because it's very important, especially when you have stories such as mine and my family.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
Well, you know, 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, in my arms, you know? And I mean, when you talk about a great athlete, I mean, Vero Beach, my name was up in the gymnasium, you know? I mean, I scored, I don't know how many touchdowns, I don't know how many hundreds and thousands of yards that I had.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
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, you know, 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.
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
You know, just go to show you the type of the athletes that was there and the athleticism that, you know, we displayed each and every day, man. You know, we was hungry, you know, a lot of time where people don't realize. And that's why I give my brother Dion credit, Dion Sanders credit, because of the fact
Mick Unplugged
Raymond Hicks Resilience Courage and Redemption
where he came from, you know, he used his life as an illustration to these young people to inspire them. You know, a lot of people don't realize, man.