A right-wing Republican state senator was arrested Thursday morning while trying to enter the House chambers to attend the State of the State address by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.
Colton Moore, a controversial legislator from Trenton, was handcuffed and escorted out of the Capitol by state police after a confrontation with staff and law enforcement. Moore had attempted multiple times to access the House floor for the governor’s annual address.
Last year, GOP House Speaker Jon Burns banned Senator Colton Moore from entering the House chamber after Moore criticized the late House Speaker David Ralston during a Senate session honoring him posthumously. Moore alleged that Ralston had exploited his position for his law firm’s benefit, remarks Burns condemned as “some of the vilest you can make about a good man.” In response, Burns instructed the House doorkeeper to bar Moore from entering the chamber.
On Thursday, as senators gathered for a joint session to hear Gov. Brian Kemp’s State of the State address, Moore attempted to defy the ban. The House doorkeeper asked him to watch the speech from outside the chamber, but Moore refused. After attempting to push past the doorkeeper and staff, he was stopped by Capitol police officers who had been alerted to his plans, which he had announced on social media.
A tense confrontation ensued, with Moore insisting he had a legal and constitutional right to enter the chamber. Despite multiple warnings, Moore continued pushing and shoving, eventually falling to the ground during the scuffle. Officers arrested him for misdemeanor obstruction, citing his disruption of official proceedings and repeated attempts to force his way in. Moore was handcuffed and taken to the Fulton County Jail, where he was later released.
The Georgia State Patrol explained that Moore’s actions created a public disturbance before the governor’s address and escalated when he pushed into officers multiple times. In their statement, they emphasized that the arrest was necessary to maintain order and ensure safety.
Hours after his arrest, Moore posted a video from Emory Midtown Hospital, claiming he sustained injuries, including a swollen left hand. Despite the ordeal, he vowed to return to the Capitol for Friday’s session, framing his actions as a fight for liberty and freedom on behalf of his constituents.
“I appreciate all the support and warm comments from across Georgia and the nation,” Moore said. “They took my freedom and liberty today, but I remain committed to fulfilling my constitutional obligations. I’ll be back in the legislature tomorrow morning.”
Senator Colton Moore has been a polarizing figure in the Georgia Senate. He was previously expelled from the GOP caucus after allegedly sharing colleagues’ contact information on social media and urging the public to pressure them into calling a special session to target Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her indictment of former President—and now President-elect—Donald Trump.
Moore serves as vice chair of the Georgia Freedom Caucus, a state-level extension of the U.S. Congress House Freedom Caucus, established in 2024.
Following Moore’s arrest on Thursday, Andrew Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, sent out a mass email defending Moore and condemning the incident. Roth claimed the arrest was both unconstitutional and unnecessary, attributing it to Moore’s frequent challenges to establishment Republicans.
“This arrest was unconstitutional and wholly unnecessary, but not surprising. Swampy Georgia Republicans dislike Colton because he regularly calls them out for supporting bloated budgets and big government programs,” Roth wrote in the fundraising email.
The incident has also sparked debate among legal experts and political figures, with many questioning the legality of Moore’s arrest and the ethical implications of barring him from the House chamber.
Georgia law protects legislators from arrest during the General Assembly session, except in cases of felony offenses, breach of peace, or treason.
House Speaker Jon Burns released a statement describing the situation as unfortunate but defending the decision to bar Senator Colton Moore from the House chamber for violating rules of decorum. Burns also commended House members for honoring the legacy of the late Speaker David Ralston during Thursday’s session.
However, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican from Butts County and the Senate’s presiding officer, disagreed with Moore’s arrest. Jones asserted that legislators have a right to attend official legislative sessions. “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,” Jones said in a statement.
House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration supported Burns’ actions, emphasizing the importance of maintaining order. “The senator caused a very dangerous situation today with law enforcement, doorkeepers, staff, and others present,” Efstration told reporters. “House members were focused on the governor’s State of the State address and the critical work ahead this session, which should remain the priority.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have largely stayed on the sidelines, watching the intra-party conflict unfold. House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley, a Democrat from Columbus, quipped, “When elephants are fighting, get out of the way.”
Moore’s arrest marks the third such incident involving a Georgia lawmaker at the Capitol in recent years. In 2018, U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, then a state senator, was arrested during a protest over ballot counting in the governor’s race. Similarly, in 2021, state Rep. Park Cannon, an Atlanta Democrat, was arrested for knocking on Gov. Brian Kemp’s office door during the signing of Senate Bill 202, a controversial election law overhaul.
The charges against Williams and Cannon were eventually dropped by prosecutors. However, during a Georgia Supreme Court hearing in May, their attorneys argued that the laws used to arrest them were vague, overly broad, and infringed upon their constitutional rights.
In November, the state Supreme Court ruled that the arrests of Cannon and Williams were legal but recommended that the Legislature clarify what constitutes prohibited disruptions under the law.
Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP and an Atlanta attorney, took to X to discuss the Georgia Constitution’s protections for lawmakers during legislative sessions. These protections prevent arrests except in limited circumstances such as felonies, breaches of the peace, or treason. Griggs, who represented Cannon when Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis declined to press charges, highlighted that Moore’s arrest was not the first time this legal safeguard had been overlooked.
Griggs argued that while disorderly conduct is often tied to breaches of the peace, Georgia law explicitly protects legislators from being arrested for attempting to attend legislative meetings or sessions inside the chambers. He also asserted that the Georgia Constitution carries more legal authority than House rules, such as those invoked to bar Moore from entering the House chamber.
The Georgia Legislature’s new two-year session had just begun earlier in the week. On Thursday, Griggs questioned Moore’s exclusion on X: “Wouldn’t an elected official have the right to be in a joint session of the legislature? At what point was his right taken away by an order of the court or the will of the people?”