Tempers flared at a “Get Out the Vote” rally in Stockbridge on Saturday morning when a passerby attacked a man holding campaign signs supporting U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, police said.
The incident occurred about 10:40 a.m. as a group supporting the Democratic candidates stood along Hudson Bridge Road near I-75 with political signs encouraging voters to take part in next month’s runoff elections, authorities said.
“A passerby stopped and confronted a supporter with physical aggression,” Henry County police Capt. Randy Lee said in an emailed statement. “The supporter suffered wounds to his face and head.”
Photos obtained by Channel 2 Action News showed the man bleeding from cuts above his eye and on the side of his head. Witnesses at the scene told the news station the suspect punched the man before grabbing his campaign signs and ripping them up.
The suspect, later identified as 44-year-old Troy Walter Rimes, was not arrested at the time due to the Henry County jail’s quarantine bed limitations, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Maj. Wendy Sanvidge said. Rimes was arrested three days after the incident once a bed was available, Sanvidge confirmed.
He was charged with battery, and his bond was set at $1,250, according to Henry County jail records.
The injured man was treated at the scene and released, Lee said.
The violence was later condemned by both Ossoff and his opponent, Republican Sen. David Perdue.
“There aren’t even words to explain how completely unacceptable this kind of violence is toward any human being,” Ossoff said in a statement. “I hope the other candidates in this runoff election will join me in condemning this and I’m calling on all of our supporters to treat each other with respect.”
In a tweet Saturday evening, Perdue called the attack “absolutely disgusting” and said behavior like that “has no place in our civil society.”
“Bonnie (Perdue’s wife) and I are praying for the victim and grateful for the law enforcement who arrested the suspected perpetrator,” he wrote.
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