Haywood County -- August 16, 2025: A heated confrontation at a private landfill in Haywood County, captured in a viral video, has now led to a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Bill Wilke, and one of his deputies, Michael Buckner.
The lawsuit was filed by truck driver Joseph Joines and his colleague Angelica Hendon. It alleges they were assaulted and threatened at gunpoint during a June 26 incident while they were hauling debris from Hurricane Helene cleanup. Joines' video, posted on TikTok, quickly went viral and has garnered millions of views.
Conflicting Accounts of the Incident
According to a press conference from the plaintiffs' attorneys, the incident began when Joines, an independent contractor, mistakenly bypassed a designated staging area at the Two Banks Development (TBD) Landfill. Joines claims that after being instructed to move his vehicle, he was confronted by several men, including a landfill employee. Joines alleges that the men, including the landfill employee, accused him of stealing a cellphone, searched his truck, and then used a bulldozer to ram his vehicle, which tipped his trailer.
The situation allegedly became more tense when Deputy Michael Buckner, who was reportedly working as a safety manager for Wright Brothers Construction at the time, arrived on the scene. According to the plaintiffs, Buckner, threatened Joines with arrest and failed to intervene as the situation became more aggressive. Joines’ attorneys claim that at one point, one of the men pointed a gun at Joines and Hendon, who was also present. They argue that the plaintiffs feared for their lives and that Joines was "seconds away from being shot."
Lawsuit Alleges Civil Rights Violations
The federal civil rights lawsuit seeks to hold multiple parties accountable, including the Haywood County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Wilke, Deputy Buckner, the TBD Landfill, and Wright Brothers Construction. The suit alleges violations of Joines’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, as well as claims of assault and false imprisonment. The plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that the Haywood County Sheriff's Office failed to protect their clients from what they described as a "racially charged assault."
Defendants Reject Allegations
The defendants have provided a starkly different account of the events. In a public statement, TBD Landfill disputed all claims of misconduct or prejudice. The company asserts that Joines "engaged in aggressive and threatening behavior and broke the facility's rules." The landfill's ownership claims that the viral videos present a "partial and misleading account" of the incident.
Wright Brothers Construction has also released a statement, clarifying that the incident did not occur on one of their job sites. They confirmed that Buckner is a part-time deputy who was acting in that capacity, not as an employee of their company, during the confrontation. The Haywood County Sheriff's Office has not yet commented publicly on the pending lawsuit, but had previously stated it was investigating the matter.
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