Headline RoundupJuly 22nd, 2019

Georgia lawmaker says man told her to "go back" to where she came from; man denies allegation

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Black Georgia lawmaker Erica Thomas said on Twitter that she was "verbally assaulted" by a man who told her to “go back where you came from” at a grocery store near Atlanta on Friday. The man, Eric Sparkes, said he is a Cuban Democrat and admitted to berating Thomas for having too many items in the express checkout lane, but denies making any racial comment. Sparkes and some on the right said Thomas manipulated her story as a political stunt, pointing to her comment to reporters in which she appeared to backtrack, "I don't know if he said 'go back,' or those types of words ... I don't know if 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." In a Monday morning press conference, Thomas said "I'm not backtracking" on the accusations.

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