Ga. senator banned from House chamber arrested at State Capitol after shoving match with troopers

ATLANTA — Georgia Capitol Police arrested State Sen. Colton Moore, who represents parts of North Georgia, on Thursday morning while trying to attend the annual State of the State address.

The senator tried to enter the chamber, only to be rebuffed, shoved and eventually arrested.

Moore faces a charge of willfully obstructing law enforcement after the Georgia Department of Public Safety said he “created a disruption outside the House Chamber. Despite multiple verbal warnings and several attempts to de-escalate the situation, Senator Moore persisted in his attempts to disrupt official proceedings inside the House Chamber. The disturbance escalated further when Senator Moore pushed into Troopers multiple times.”

He was granted a $1,000 surety bond, according to records from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

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On Wednesday, Moore published a letter to Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns saying that a letter from Burns telling him not to enter the chamber was “unconstitutional, illegal and the most disgraceful piece of correspondence issued by a legislator” in Georgia’s history.

Moore was banned from entering the House chamber after making disparaging remarks about former House Speaker David Ralston, who died in 2022.

On Thursday morning, Moore tried to get inside, telling those blocking him from entering that he was interfering with his ability to serve his constituents.

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

In the hours that followed Moore’s arrest, various lawmakers weighed in.

Republican Majority Leader Chuck Efstration said it was down to House rules.

“The Speaker of the House has full responsibility of maintaining order and decorum in the House Chamber,” Efstration said. “He’d done that today.”

While Republican leaders stood behind Burns and members of law enforcement, not everyone agreed that Moore should have been barred from the day’s proceedings.

“Whatever personal differences Senator Moore has with others, he is a member of the body over which I preside. All elected 56 senators and 180 representatives deserve the opportunity to fulfill their responsibility to attend joint sessions of the General Assembly,” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ office said in a statement. “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.”

On social media, Moore posted a quote from Gov. Kemp’s speech as a response to his arrest.

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“If you’ve been done wrong, you deserve justice,” Moore posted, citing Kemp’s State of the State speech from Thursday.

House Speaker Jon Burns’ office, released the following statement:

“The situation outside of the House Chamber this morning was incredibly unfortunate. The Senator refused to cooperate with doorkeepers and law enforcement, and created a dangerous situation when he chose to use force against our law enforcement officers, dedicated doorkeepers and House staff. I want to thank every House staff member and our entire House family for holding the line to honor Speaker Ralston’s legacy of dedicated service to our state. As you saw today, the integrity and decorum of this House are non-negotiable—period.”

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