Georgia state senator shoved to ground, arrested for entering House chamber after tirade against late speaker: Bit of a beating

A sitting Georgia state senator was shoved to the ground and taken into custody Thursday for flouting orders not to enter the House chamber during Gov.Brian Kemp’s State of the State address.

State Sen.Colton Moore (R) later cut a video of himself on a medical bed claiming that he “took a bit of a beating” on his hand during the arrest.

The self-described “RINO Wrangler” had been forbidden from entering the chamber due to his blistering remarks about late House Speaker David Ralston last year.“Today they took my freedom and liberty away as I was fighting for your liberty and freedom, but I’ll tell you what, I still have a constitutional obligation to do work,” Moore explained in a video message after the kerfuffle.“I’ll still be in that legislature come tomorrow morning.”As a state senator, Moore is still allowed in the upper chamber.It’s the lower chamber that’s off-limits to him.

Footage captured the viral moment as Moore sought to enter the state House chamber for Kemp’s speech.Georgia State Patrol intercepted him and instructed him not to go further due to his banishment.

“This is a joint session of the General Assembly.Your House rules do not apply,” Moore fired back, before attempting to muscle his way into the chamber.

“I’m going into the chamber.”An official pushed him back and officers later put handcuffs on him and escorted him away, bringing him to Fulton County Jail.It is not clear if he faces any criminal charges.

Back in March of last year, Moore admonished a state Senate bill to name a building at the University of North Georgia after Ralston, who died in 2022.Some of Ralston’s relatives were in the room during his speech.

“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,” Moore fumed in a fiery speech at the time.Ralston’s successor, current state House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington, decried Moore’s tirade a...