Getty/Twitter Senator David Perdue.
Georgia Senator David Perdue was caught on video grabbing a phone from a Georgia Tech student who was questioning him about his support for the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp, who has been accused of coordinating voter suppression in his current role as secretary of state. The incident occurred while Perdue was visiting the college’s campus to campaign for GOP candidates before a Tech football game. The student, who has not been identified, is considering filing a police report.
The video, shared on Twitter on Saturday by the Georgia Tech chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, shows Perdue taking the phone and walking away with it briefly, before returning it to the student. Perdue is a Republican who was elected to the Senate in 2014. “Today @sendavidperdue visited Tech to campaign for Kemp. A student tried asking a simple question about @BrianKempGA ‘s racist scheme to threaten voter registrations from black people, but before he could even finish the question, Perdue stole his phone,” the YDSA tweeted.
You can watch the video below:
Perdue has not commented about the video or the incident. Perdue is not running for re-election this year, but he has been supporting Kemp, who is in a tight race against Democrat Stacey Abrams. Her campaign and civil rights groups have accused Kemp of trying to suppress the votes of minorities. Kemp has denied the accusations.
The video begins with the student, a member of the Young Democratic Socialists of America at Georgia Tech, approaching Perdue. The senator immediately says, “no,” as the student begins to ask, “so how can you endorse a candidate…” Perdue then grabs the phone from the student’s hand, and takes it from him. The phone continues recording as Perdue holds it by his legs. “You stole my property,” the student tells Perdue. The senator then tells him, “you wanted a picture, I’m going to give it to you.” The student then says, “give me my phone back senator.” Perdue then gives the phone back to the student and walks away.
The student briefly follows Perdue, saying, “U.S. Senator David Perdue just snatched my phone because he won’t answer a question from one of his constituents.” As Perdue shakes hands with a woman and walks away, the student says, “He’s trying to leave, because he won’t answer why he’s endorsing a candidate who’s trying to purge people from voting on the basis of their race.” The video then ends.
The YDSA Says Perdue ‘Forcibly, Suddenly & Violently’ Took the Phone From the Student ‘Without Justicifaction or Provocation,’ Calling His Behavior ‘Abhorrent’
It’s abhorrent that when our members ask their senators about the purging of voters within their state, they respond by stealing their phones, dismissing dissent, and ultimately prove that curbing of democracy is how they make capital stay in power
“Perdue walked into Georgia Tech’s backyard, and students aren’t allowed to ask him a simple question?” the Georgia Tech chapter of YDSA said in a press release. “It would be one thing to say ‘no comment’ or inform us he’s not taking questions. Perdue would have been within his legal rights to simply walk away or decline the question. But instead, he forcibly, suddenly, and violently took their phone without justification or provocation.”
The statement continued, “Had the situation today been the other way around, and if the Georgia Tech student had snatched a sitting U.S. senator’s phone, the student would likely have been arrested on the spot. This behavior is shocking, appalling, and totally unbecoming of the supposedly hallowed office of U.S. senator.”
The YDSA said the student who filmed the encounter does not wish to be identified at this time, but the student spoke to The Washington Post and the newspaper confirmed he is a Georgia Tech student.
“It’s clear that Perdue suddenly snatched the phone with the intent to temporarily deprive the student of their property so that they could not continue to record him. The video cuts briefly for a few seconds when Perdue accidentally stopped and restarted the recording, during which time Perdue hid the phone behind his back while the student demanded their phone be returned. It is our belief, and the belief of the student, that Perdue committed the Georgia crimes of Theft by taking and Robbery. The student is considering filing a police report with campus police,” the YDSA said in its statement.
The group said, “While the GOP is running ads accusing the political left of being an unhinged violent mob, today we saw the GOP’s utter contempt for the public, and their willingness to commit criminal acts of violence for political gain without provocation. “The wealthy plutocrats in the GOP believe they are above the law. Hopefully people will soon realize that Senator Perdue does not represent — or even pretend to represent — the interest of the public, and that he is committed to protecting the economic interests of the wealthy elite by any means necessary.”
Unfortunately the cops work for wealthy plutocrats like him. The student would love to report it, but it’ll likely get dismissed.
Imagine the response if a student had snatched a Senator’s phone: instant arrest.
“It’s abhorrent that when our members ask their senators about the purging of voters within their state, they respond by stealing their phones, dismissing dissent, and ultimately prove that curbing of democracy is how they make capital stay in power,” the YDSA said on Twitter.
The group added, “Unfortunately the cops work for wealthy plutocrats like him. The student would love to report it, but it’ll likely get dismissed. Imagine the response if a student had snatched a Senator’s phone: instant arrest. … While @sendavidperdue campaigns in public for his endorsed candidate, he won’t acknowledge questions or criticisms, fleeing instead. He won’t even try to defend @BrianKempGA ‘s actions because he knows its indefensible. What is it Republicans say about university ‘Safe Spaces’?”
The Democratic Party of Georgia also issued a press release about the incident.
“Brian Kemp surrogate David Perdue resorted to stealing a student’s cell phone because he cannot defend the fact that Brian Kemp refuses to resign and continues to engage in voter suppression tactics that disproportionately impact African-Americans in Georgia,” Democratic Party of Georgia spokesman Seth Bringman said in a statement. “While Brian Kemp cannot be trusted to run this election, and his surrogates cannot defend his actions, the sad truth for Kemp is that voters of color are fighting back and turning out in unprecedented numbers.
Perdue Was Recently Confronted by Anti-Kavanaugh Protesters & Compared Them to Nazis While Calling Them ‘Paid Activists’ Who Need to Be Stopped
WATCH: @sendavidperdue refuses to shake hands with survivors who are trying to share their stories with him. “Don’t touch me” he says when our co-ed @jeppsaddison reaches out.
Fine. You don’t want to be touched. Yeah, neither do women.
Perdue was confronted earlier this month by anti-Kavanuagh protesters who said they were victims of sexual assault. After that incident, which you can watch above, Perdue compared the protesters to Nazis and said they were being paid to confront him, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He said the Democrats have “gone one tick too far,” and compared them to the brownshirts, the paramilitary forces used by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.
“When the paid activists who support you attack my wife, you have gone too far. You are inciting this disrespect of our law,” he told the newspaper. “These are the tactics of the Brownshirts in Germany in the 1930s. Unacceptable. Totally irresponsible.”
During an interview with Laura Ingraham, Perdue said Republicans need to “grow up and start playing defense,” according to The Hill. He added, “These are not genuine people who are concerned about Dr. Ford or anything else, these are paid activists. This is a George Soros conspiracy, and it’s time we wake up, expose them, stand up and fight for our country, because that’s what’s at stake here.”
Perdue said of the women who confronted him, “This is a sham, it’s a new low in America. This is part of a bigger attempt by the Democrats to take this to a new level. This is a bigger issue, and it’s not going to go away when we confirm Kavanaugh this week.”
He also spoke on the Senate floor about Democrats, accusing them of “inciting extremism”:
“The United States Senate has become nothing more than a bully pulpit for someone’s special cause when it should be a deliberative body. We should be finding the truth here. My Democrat colleagues talk all the time about working in a bipartisan way. Yet when you get in the heat of the battle, nothing could be further from the truth. This is bigger than confirming Judge Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. This is about civility in our country,” Perdue said.
The senator added:
One of my Democratic colleagues in this body has encouraged people to, ‘get in the face of some Congresspeople.’ Really? How does that move the cause of justice forward? The House Minority Leader wants to see ‘uprisings all over the country.’ Seriously? Another member of the House said, ‘They’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant’ – talking about Republicans. ‘They’re not going to be able to stop at a gasoline station. They’re not going to be able to shop at a department store. The people are going to turn on them. They’re going to protest. They’re going to absolutely harass them until they decide that they’re going to tell the president they can no longer hang with him.’ The same member of the House also said, ‘if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, department store, gasoline station, you get out and create a crowd. You push back on them and you tell them they’re not welcome.
Heavy has reached out to police in Georgia about the Saturday incident, but have not received any response. Heavy also reached out to Perdue’s spokesperson and the Georgia Republican Party.
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