A Georgia state lawmaker who was banned from entering the House chamber was thrown to the ground after attempting to attend Governor Brian Kemp’s State of the State address on Thursday.
Footage of the scene outside the chamber’s doors Thursday showed Georgia Republican State Senator Colton Moore surrounded by security guards and state troopers as someone who appeared to be a dectective or a guard tackled Moore to the floor to force him to leave.
In the video, Moore can be heard saying: “It has gone too far. I have an obligation to be in that room.”
He added: “I represent 200,000 people in northwest Georgia who duly elected me to be here today.”
He was later arrested by officers at the Capitol and transported to Fulton County Jail. He was released and taken to a hospital for treatment. In an update from the hospital, Moore said he had taken a “beating” and his right hand was “swollen” and “purple.”
His team posted footage of the incident and the update on his X account along with the following statement: “Senator Colton Moore, who exposed and defeated corrupt District Attorney Fani Willis last year, has been arrested by the Anti-Trump Speaker of the Georgia House. Colton is being held in the same Atlanta jail as President Trump.”
Moore has blamed his banishment from the chamber on his attacks on Willis, who presided over President-elect Donald Trump’s election interference case. Willis was recently disqualified for having an affair with a top prosecutor.
In 2023, Moore was suspended from the GOP caucus for demanding a probe into Willis during a special session.
Moore also rudely insulted late House Speaker David Ralston, calling him a “tyrant” following his death in 2022.
Moore warned his colleagues in a letter the previous day that he planned to attend.
He wrote Republican House Speaker Jon Burns that his banishment was “unconstitutional, illegal and the most disgraceful piece of correspondence issued by a legislator” in Georgia’s history, according to WSBTV.
Moore vowed to be back on Friday.
