A Georgia Tech student is set to file a lawsuit against Senator David Perdue of Georgia after the Republican snatched away the young man's phone when asked a question about voter suppression.
Atlanta-based law firm Dreyer Sterling LLC, which is headed by Democratic state Representative David Dreyer and former Atlanta mayoral candidate Michael Sterling, has said it plans to file a "civil battery" complaint against Perdue in Fulton State Court on Monday morning on the student's behalf.
The law firm made the announcement in a press release sent to Newsweek by Southern Majority, a campaign consultancy group serving progressive candidates in the South, accusing Perdue of having "ripped [a] phone out of a student's hands as the student attempted to ask a question about voter rights."
Video of the October 13 incident appears to show the student beginning to ask the senator why he was at the school to campaign on the behalf of Georgia's Republican secretary of state, Brian Kemp, who is in a tight race for governor against Democrat Stacey Abrams. Kemp is facing a lawsuit from a coalition of civil rights groups after an Associated Press report alleged his office had failed to process more than 53,000 voter applications from mostly black applicants with weeks to go before the November midterm elections.
"Hey, so, uh, how can you endorse a candidate—" the student, who has been identified as a member of the Young Democratic Socialists of America group, starts to ask, as he films the senator on his phone.
Perdue cuts him off, however, saying: "I'm not doing that," as the camera appears to shake.
"You stole my property," the student says to Perdue.
"You wanted a picture?" the senator responds, with the camera pointing at his shoes.
Eventually, Perdue appears to hand back the phone before walking away.
Read more: Georgia Senator David Perdue appears to snatch student's phone
“That’s U.S. Senator David Perdue. U.S. Senator David Perdue just snatched my phone because he won’t answer a question from one of his constituents,” the student says, following behind the candidate.
A spokesperson for Perdue previously told The Hill that the incident had been the result of a misunderstanding, claiming that the "senator clearly thought he was being asked to take a picture and he went to take a selfie as he often does."
"When he realized they didn’t actually want to take a picture, he gave the phone back," the spokesperson added.
The civil battery complaint against Perdue is expected to be filed at Fulton State Court at 10:30 a.m. ET on Monday in Atlanta.
Perdue's campaign team has not immediately responded to a request for comment from Newsweek on how the senator plans to respond to the lawsuit.
nickels55 on October 22nd, 2018 at 20:45 UTC »
I know I'm asking a lot here.... but since there is a video of the incident why isn't it linked to the story? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNgtEoGnVEQ
If he thinks the kid wanted a picture why would he start by saying "No, I'm not doing that." before taking his camera?
jleonardbc on October 22nd, 2018 at 17:23 UTC »
Malfus_Chucklebot on October 22nd, 2018 at 16:58 UTC »
Since it's a misdemeanor, maybe they should take away his kids. Put them in a detention facility until his charges are processed and brought to court. /s