Georgia State Sen. Colton Moore is arrested outside the House chambers for flouting a ban against his entrance on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
This story was updated on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, at 4:30 p.m.
Georgia State Patrol officers arrested Republican Georgia State Sen. Colton Moore on Thursday for trying to enter the House chambers after House Speaker Jon Burns banned him from the floor.
Multiple Georgia State Patrol officers and the doorkeeper of the House barred Moore from entering during Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s State of the State speech on Wednesday and escorted him out of the Capitol building after a tussle.
“This man should be arrested for breaking the law,” he said to the doorkeeper. “We all upheld our hand and swore an oath to the Constitution. This is a joint session of the General Assembly. Your House rules do not apply. What a silly mess. What a high school, silly mess.”
Georgia State Sen. Colton Moore is barred from entering the House chambers on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
In March 2024, Burns ordered the House doorkeepers to keep Moore out of the House chambers after Moore called the late House Speaker David Ralston “one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders we’ll ever see in our lifetimes” during the unveiling of Ralston’s portrait. Previously, the state’s Republican Senate Caucus suspended Moore for breaking caucus rules by attacking Republicans for refusing to support his campaign to impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Moore is a member of the Georgia Freedom Caucus, a state chapter modeled after the national right-wing U.S. House Freedom Caucus.
“You have no legal right to stop me,” he said to officers as they arrested him.
Courtney Lund, who works in the Public Information Office at the Georgia Department of Public Safety, confirmed that Moore was held at the Fulton County Jail, “where he is being processed for misdemeanor obstruction.” According to jail records, he has since been released on a $1,000 bond.
“Troopers stationed at the Capitol were forced to step in when Senator Moore created a disruption outside the House Chamber,” Lund said in a statement. “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.”
Burns issued a statement Thursday afternoon calling the situation “incredibly unfortunate.”
“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,” he said. “As you saw today, the integrity and decorum of this House are non-negotiable — period.”
Georgia State House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration told reporters outside the House doors after the State of the State that Moore created a “dangerous situation” but added that the focus should be on the governor’s address.
“The Speaker of the House has the responsibility of maintaining order and decorum in the House chamber. He’s done that here today. This senator caused a very dangerous situation, endangering law enforcement doorkeepers, staff, individuals that were present,” he said. “I think that the House members who are standing behind me and the members in the chamber were focused on the governor’s State of the State address today and the important work to be done this legislative session, and that’s really what the focus should be.”
Josh McKoon, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, issued a statement on X, arguing that no state elected official should be barred from a joint session.
“I am deeply disappointed that Senator Moore was denied admission and shocked that he was apparently subjected to arrest for attempting to attend the joint session today, after being physically manhandled. It was not only legally appropriate to admit him to today’s proceedings — it was simply the right thing to do,” he wrote.
