GA State Senator Arrested At Capitol After Defying Ban

Updated 2:53 p.m.

ATLANTA, GA — Republican Georgia Sen. Colton Moore was arrested Thursday for attempting to enter the state House's chambers after legislators banned him last year, according to media reports and the Georgia State Patrol.

Georgia troopers arrested Moore, of Trenton, after the Georgia State Patrol said he created a disturbance outside of the House chamber at the Georgia Capitol.

Authorities said Moore was given multiple warnings, however, he continued to "disrupt official proceedings in the House chamber."

Moore was then arrested and taken to the Fulton County Jail, the GSP said. According to jail records, he was charged on suspicion of misdemeanor willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.

The arrest took place around the time Gov. Brian Kemp was giving his 2025 State of the State address at the state Capitol.

Moore was aiming to hear Kemp's address and attend a joint session between the House and Senate, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The House voted to ban Moore from its chambers in March 2024 after he attacked the memory of the late House Speaker David Ralston, the Associated Press reported.

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Ralston died Nov. 16, 2022, of an "extensive illness," his representatives said at the time. The Republican was the 73rd Speaker of the House and the longest currently-serving state house speaker in the country.

Moore was accused of not only attacking his legacy, but also opposing a resolution that would name a University of North Georgia campus building after Ralston, the Associated Press reported.

House Speaker Jon Burns on Tuesday informed Moore of the continuing ban, which Burns said will not end until Moore apologizes for his “vile, disparaging and false comments” about Ralston, the AJC reported.

“This is a silly mess,” Moore said Thursday, per the AJC. “I represent 200,000 people in northwest Georgia who duly elected me to be here today, and you’re hindering that.”

Moore was first elected into the House of Representatives on Jan. 14, 2019 before becoming a Georgia senator on Jan. 9, 2023.