BREAKING: Georgia State Senator Colton Moore was pushed to the ground and arrested while trying to attend the State of the State session
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) January 16, 2025
"Senator Colton Moore, who exposed and defeated corrupt District Attorney Fani Willis last year, has been arrested by the Anti-Trump Speaker… pic.twitter.com/X0Bb0G82Pi
… by the Anti-Trump Speaker of the Georgia House
Colton is being held in the same Atlanta jail as President Trump
We are working to ensure his expedient release
Please pray for all those standing up for freedom and peace for all Georgians
- Team Moore"
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This story was updated at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, with additional reaction to Moore’s arrest.
[GeorgiaRecorder] A right-wing Republican state senator was arrested Thursday morning while attempting to enter the House chambers to attend the State of the State address by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.
Controversial Trenton politician Colton Moore was handcuffed and removed from the Capitol by state police following an altercation with staff members and law enforcement as Moore made several attempts to enter the House chamber floor for the annual governor’s address.
Moore was banned from entering the House chamber last year by GOP House Speaker Jon Burns after speaking ill of the late House Speaker David Ralston while the Blue Ridge Republican was being posthumously honored in the Senate. Moore took to the well and spoke about allegations that Ralston had used his position as speaker to benefit his law firm.
Calling the comments "some of the vilest that you can make about a good man," current speaker Burns instructed the House doorkeeper not to allow Moore to set foot in the chamber.
The doorkeeper made good on that Thursday when Moore tried to enter the chamber along with his Senate colleagues for a joint session to hear from the governor.
The doorkeeper asked Moore to step aside and watch the governor’s speech from outside the chamber.
Moore tried to push his way in, but was stopped by the doorkeeper and other staff.
Moore insisted he was legally and constitutionally entitled to enter the chamber, but the doorkeeper disagreed, and so did the multiple Capitol coppers stationed outside the House awaiting Moore’s arrival. Moore had announced on social media earlier his intention to challenge the ban.
After several minutes of pushing and shoving, Moore fell to the ground. After more arguing, officers told Moore he was under arrest, cuffed him and led him away to a squad car.
The Georgia State Patrol released a statement Thursday afternoon that said Moore was arrested on an initial charge of misdemeanor obstruction of law enforcement officers after Moore created a public disturbance prior to the State of the State address. Moore was booked into the Fulton County jail before being released Thursday afternoon.
According to the state police, Moore ignored several warnings after troopers at the Capitol tried to calm him down as he "persisted in his attempts to disrupt official proceedings" inside the chamber.
"The disturbance escalated further when Senator Moore pushed into troopers multiple times," the statement said. "The Georgia State Patrol, in an effort to maintain peace and ensure the safety of everyone involved, arrested Sen. Moore without further incident,"
Several hours after his arrest Moore posted a video on X inside Emory Midtown Hospital, where he said was being treated for injuries that included a swollen left hand.
He thanked the people across Georgia who supported his commitment to his legislative duties and said he would return to the Capitol for Friday’s session.
"I appreciate all of your support, all of the warm comments from all over the country, all over the state of Georgia," Moore said. "I’m proud to represent the people from Northwest Georgia today. They took my freedom and liberty away as I was fighting for your liberty and freedom. But I tell you what, I still have a constitutional obligation to do work. I’ll still be in that legislature come tomorrow morning."
Moore has been a controversial figure in the Senate. He was previously booted from the GOP caucus after politicians said he posted contact information for colleagues to social media and urged people to call them to urge a special session to target Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for arresting former president, now President-elect Donald Trump
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
Moore is the vice-chair of the right wing Georgia Freedom Caucus, one of several state caucuses formed in 2024 as an extension of the U.S. Congress House Freedom Caucus.
State Freedom Caucus Network President Andrew Roth sent an email blast Thursday claiming Moore was wrongfully arrested for trying to attend the governor’s speech.
"This move to arrest Colton was unconstitutional and wholly unnecessary and unconstitutional, but expected. Swampy Georgia Republicans dislike Colton because he continually exposes them for supporting bloated budgets and big government programs," Roth wrote in the fundraising email.
Several other legal experts and political figures have raised questions regarding the legality of Moore’s arrest, as well as the ethical reasoning for blocking Moore from entering the House chamber.
Georgia law prohibits politicians from being arrested during the General Assembly session, with the exceptions of felony offenses, breach of peace, and treason.
Burns released a statement calling the situation unfortunate while he defended the decision to ban Moore for breaking the rules of House decorum.
Burns also praised state representatives for standing firm Thursday by honoring the legacy of Ralston.
Burns’ counterpart in the Senate disagreed with the decision to arrest Moore. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Butts County Republican, said politicians have the right to attend an official Legislative session matter.
"There is real work to be done this session, and the focus should be on delivering for the people of Georgia instead of personal grievances and egos," Jones said in a statement.
Majority Leader Chuck Efstration told news hounds after the speech that Burns did his duty to maintain order in the House chamber.
"The senator caused a very dangerous situation today with law enforcement, doorkeepers, staff and other individuals that were present," he said. "I think House members that were standing behind the doors in the chamber were focused on the governor’s State of the State address and the important work to be done this legislative session, and that’s where the focus should be."
Democrats
...every time you hear the phrase white people,
white supremacy,
whiteanything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word
(Thomas) Nastyto the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
have been content to watch the intraparty feuding from the sidelines.
"When elephants are fighting, get out of the way," House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley, a Columbus Democrat, told news hounds afterwards.
Moore is the third Georgia politician arrested inside the Capitol in the last few years.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, an Atlanta Democrat, was among a group of people arrested in 2018 while protesting the ballot counting in the 2018 governor’s race.
In 2021, state Rep. Park Cannon, an Atlanta Democrat, was arrested on the same charges as Williams for knocking on Kemp’s office doors during the signing of controversial election law overhaul Senate Bill 202.
The charges against Williams and Cannon were dropped by prosecutors later. However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
their attorneys argued at a Georgia Supreme Court hearing in May that the laws that were used to arrest them are vague, overly broad, and violate their constitutional rights as free individuals.
In November, the state Supreme Court found the arrests of Cannon and Williams were legal, but advised the Legislature to clarify the types of disruptions that are prohibited under law.
Gerald Griggs, the president of the Georgia NAACP and Atlanta lawyer, posted a thread on X citing the Georgia Constitution which protects politicians from arrest during sessions except in very limited circumstances. Griggs was Cannon’s lawyer when Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis decided not to pursue criminal charges against Cannon for the incident that occurred a few weeks prior.
Griggs posted Thursday that Moore’s arrest wasn’t the "first time people tend to ignore the law." Griggs said that while disorderly conduct is the usual criminal charge connected to a breach of peace, Georgia law protects elected politicians from being arrested for trying to attend meetings and legislative floor sessions inside the chambers.
He also said that the Georgia Constitution holds more legal weight than House rules like the ones used to justify blocking Moore from entering the House chamber.
The Georgia Legislature’s new-two year session started Monday.
"Wouldn’t an elected official have the right to be in a joint session of the legislature? At what point was his right taken away by an order of the court or the will of the people."