GA Speaker Arrests GOP Senator Who Criticized His Predecessor

Georgia’s Republican House speaker had a GOP state senator arrested on Thursday for attempting to join fellow legislators in a convening of the state’s general assembly.

The incident occurred when Sen. Colton Moore tried to access the House of Representatives to attend Gov. Brian Kemp’s State of the State address. Footage of the incident appears to show Moore trying to enter the lower chamber while being rebuffed by Georgia State Patrol officers, who seemingly shoved the senator to the ground before detaining him.

“I have an obligation to be in that room. I represent 200,000 people in Northwest Georgia who duly elected me to be here today, and you’re hindering that,” Moore said.

According to Fox 5 Atlanta, Moore’s attorney “confirmed that the senator was arrested and taken to the Fulton County Jail,” although it remains unknown “what charges [he] may be facing.”

Moore was notably kicked out of the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus in late 2023 after he called on the state’s GOP leadership to investigate Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ lawfare against President-elect Donald Trump and more than a dozen other Republicans regarding their actions in the 2020 election. As The Federalist’s Tristan Justice reported, the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis and her office from the case last month “after a series of scandals exposed gross impropriety.”

Thursday’s saga stems from a dust-up that occurred last year in which Moore, a member of the Georgia Freedom Caucus, criticized late Speaker David Ralston, the predecessor of current Speaker Jon Burns.

The Senate was considering a resolution that sought to name a building at a Georgia university after Ralston. While speaking in opposition to the measure, Moore reportedly said, “This body is about to memorialize, in my opinion, one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders that we are ever going to see in my lifetime.”

During his time as speaker, Ralston, who also worked as an attorney, faced accusations of using legal maneuvers to slow-walk trial proceedings in a case in which he represented a man indicted by a grand jury after being accused of raping a 14-year-old girl. The man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the girl in 2019, receiving 10 years of probation and no prison time.

The prosecution reportedly blamed the light sentencing on the delays in the case.

After denouncing Moore’s criticisms of Ralston, Burns reportedly informed the senator shortly after his remarks that he would not be permitted to access the House. Burns sent a letter to Moore on Jan. 14 notifying him that he is “not allowed to enter the House Chamber” to attend Kemp’s Thursday address unless he “deliver[s] a sincere apology to the family, extended family, and loved ones of former Speaker David Ralston from the floor of the Senate” before then.

Moore responded to Burns in a letter on Wednesday, calling the speaker’s notice “unconstitutional, illegal, and the most disgraceful piece of correspondence issued by a legislator in the history of the State of Georgia.”

The GOP senator cited the Georgia Constitution, which states, “The members of both houses shall be free from arrest during sessions of the General Assembly, or committee meetings thereof, and in going thereto or returning therefrom, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. No member shall be liable to answer in any other place for anything spoken in either house or in any committee meeting of either house.”

Conservatives quickly denounced Moore’s arrest after video of the incident went viral on X.

Speaking with The Federalist, State Freedom Caucus Network President Andy Roth noted that the Peach State’s founding document “is crystal clear on this matter” and criticized Burns for his conduct.

“Colton was duly elected by his constituents. He represents over 170,000 people and their voices were ignored when Speaker Burns unlawfully banned Colton from attending the governor’s address,” Roth said. “Burns should be censured and forced to apologize.”

DeKalb County GOP Chair Marci McCarthy similarly lambasted Moore’s arrest, which she called “a shameful abuse of power and a troubling distraction from the work Georgians elected their leaders to do.”

“As a duly elected representative, Sen. Moore has a constitutional duty to serve his constituents, and today’s actions by Speaker Jon Burns are both retaliatory, petty and unbecoming of his office,” McCarthy told The Federalist. “Silencing voices through heavy-handed tactics undermines the integrity of the legislative process and sets a dangerous precedent at a time when leaders should be focused on addressing the real issues facing our nation and the great state of Georgia.”

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood