Georgia lawmaker claims to be a victim of a hate crime at the grocery store
'Tucker Carlson Tonight' investigates the alleged hate crime; 'Panic Attack' author Robby Soave weighs in.
The Georgia Democratic lawmaker who went viral with her claim that she was told to "go back where you came from" at a grocery store was actually the person who made the statement, a Tuesday report said, citing witnesses.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a police report documented witness testimonials who claimed they watched the altercation between state Rep. Erica Thomas and Eric Sparkes.
Thomas took to social media to claim that Sparkes berated her for using the express lane with more than ten items. At one point in the interaction, she claimed that he told her to "go back where you came from."
The phrase has been publicized in the media amid President Trump's ongoing feud with the four progressive congresswomen. Sparkes admitted to calling her an expletive but denied Thomas' other claim.
Gerald Griggs, Thomas' attorney, told the AJC that the officer's report does not tell the entire story because the two witnesses "didn't hear the initial argument.
GEORGIA LAWMAKER WHO SAID MAN TOLD HER 'GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM' WALKS BACK PART OF CLAIM
According to the AJC, a Publix employee told a Cobb County deputy that she witnessed Thomas "continuously tell Eric Sparkes to ‘Go back where you came from,’” but not from Sparkes.
The employee also reportedly told the police, “Mr. Sparkes began to leave, but Ms. Thomas kept ‘running her mouth’ as she approached him."
Thomas reportedly told police that Sparkes ran up to her "with clenched hands in such a manner that he made me fearful for the safety of myself and my daughter.”
However, the deputy indicated in his report that Sparkes, a Cuban Democrat, "did not appear to be irate, nor did I see him with clenched hands" in security camera footage he viewed.
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“This white man comes up to me and says, ‘You lazy son of (expletive). You need to go back where you came from,'" Thomas said.
She did appear to walk back part of her claim, telling a reporter on Saturday, "I don't wanna say he said 'go back to your country,' or 'go back to where you came from,' but he was making those types of references, is what I remember."
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